Thanksgiving has traditionally been one of my favorite U.S. holidays. When my mother was alive, God rest her soul, she used to bake bread and pies and make everything by hand so, I suppose that being able to eat at my mother’s table was a good enough reason for making this holiday a favorite.
To this day I often find myself in a state of gratitude for the parents that bought me into this world and taught me to be a decent sort (although I’m still not sure it took). However, it’s this “state of gratitude” that I’d like to address today.
Six weeks ago I shared a piece here at ArrowheadOne called, “It’s not personal but, I LOVE FOOTBALL” in which I outlined a short history of a long lifetime of appreciation for the game that many of us adore and the team more of us continue to follow. With Thanksgiving coming tomorrow… and the Kansas City Chiefs in a downward-facing-dog position for the past month, I thought this might be a good time to talk about our attitude towards this collection of Chiefs players and coaches.
To cut to the chase… there are many Chiefs fans who are calling for the head of Alex Smith. They’d like to have the rookie QB Patrick Mahomes II take over and get on with the transition which is inevitable… at some point in time. This, “grass is always greener” (GAG) syndrome can ruin your life if you let it. An essential ingredient for GAG is unhappiness with what you’ve got. Now, some will argue that it doesn’t apply in this case because what the Chiefs have got is not good.
That’s where those fans would be wrong.
Think about the AFC Division for a second. Who are the top three QBs in this division? Tom Brady? Sure, I’ll give you that. Roethlisberger? 87.8 Rating. 16 TDs and 5 INTs. Nope. AS11’s numbers are better at 107.6 Rating. 18 TDs and 3 INTs plus 100 more yards passing than Big Bum.
The reality: you won’t find more than one QB in the AFC who is better than Alex Smith. This year!
Perspective: Be glad we don’t have Matt Cassel running this offense.
Yes, Alex Smith has had an up then down season. However, during Matt Cassel’s last year in in K.C. in 2012, I charted his QB Ratings for each game for all his years in K.C. and the results looked like a roller coaster from week to week. Compare that to Alex Smith QB Ratings this year and what you’ll see is a very different pattern: up, up, up, up… then downward… but never the kinds of lows that Cassel ever had.
The worst you can say about Alex Smith is that he slips into a “game manager” mode but Cassel would suck all the life out of you because you never knew what you’d get from week to week.
Something to be thankful for? It is for me.
For those who want to start an unknown like Patrick Mahomes should look at what the Buffalo Bills did last week. They needed to see what they had in rookie Nathan Peterman so they could plan accordingly next spring before the 2018 NFL draft. What they got was… 5 INTs but in the end… what did they really learn about Peterman? Likely, nothing. Do you really want to throw Mahomes to the wolves? Or the turkeys, as the case may be?
You only need to look at what happened to some of the greatest QBs to ever play the game.
- Tom Brady- started 0 games his rookie season.
- John Elway- 4-6
- Joe Montana- 2-6 his first two seasons.
How about some QBs more recently:
- Drew Brees- started 0 games his rookie year.
- Philip Rivers- started 0 games his first 2 years.
- Andy Dalton- 9-7
Sure, there are guys like Russel Wilson who went 11-5 his first season or Dak Prescott who was 13-3 last year but it’s clear in both cases, they had stellar offensive lines in their rookie seasons (btw… Prescott is 5-5 this year).
The point is… it’s sometimes hard to appreciate what you’ve got when you’ve just suffered a humiliating defeat to one of the worst teams in the league. I get that. However, with this week being Thanksgiving week, this is as good a time as any to reconsider our perceptive.
As many of you are aware, I just retired after 39 years of teaching and 22 of those years I served as a Computer Literacy Instructor. Through experience I learned much about relationships with my students. I didn’t see them so much as students but as fellow learners. One such lesson I learned had to do with sustained feelings. I’d been through the “act” too may times to allow students to speak the words “sorry” one minute only to have them turn around and act like they weren’t the next. What I found was… that when you have a feeling of true “regret”… then you stay in that place emotionally. No matter what comes next.
The same is the case with thankfulness. When you feel gratitude for something… it lasts. I used to tell my students, “When you are in a feeling of gratitude, it’s nearly impossible to be sad.”
I also believe that “kindness” is a byproduct of being grateful. When you begin to look at your life through a lens of gratefulness, it begins by being kinder to yourself.
As we approach this year’s day to… Give Thanks… allow me to share a poem I wrote, decades ago, for young kids to recite. In fact, students at several K.C. Schools used to use this as part of a “Kindness Is Contagious, Catch It” program.
For the child in all of us… who needs this world to be a kinder place…
Kindness is Contagious
Kindness is contagious,
You can catch it like a cold,
Kindness is so timeless,
It can touch the young and old.
Kindness is a power,
It can lift a heavy heart,
Kindness is delicious,
You can serve it a-la-carte.
Kindness is a freedom,
For all with you who share it,
Kindness can be forgiveness,
If there’s a hurt it can repair it.
Kindness is so valuable,
It’s an inner pot of gold.
Kindness is a subtle opus
A generous masterpiece to behold.
Kindness is a feeling,
Try it and you’ll see,
The second that you give it,
Is the second you receive.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to One and All on this Wonderful Holiday! – Laddie Morse
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