It was January 17th, 2019, more than 2 yrs ago.
We were set to host one of our SameHere Sit-Downs w USC athletics w Robin Scholefield, sports psychologist, & a former Olympian.
Robin’s staff had more sports specific psychologist than most any college program in the country. That said, she mentioned they were having a tough time breaking down the walls w both the men’s & women’s bball teams, & the men’s football team.
To help us normalize convo, & work towards the goal of more usage of the psychologists they had on-site, I invited Chamique Holdsclaw (WNBA great), & Tracy Murray (NBA Champion), members of our Alliance, to share their stories as well.
At the time, we didn’t have a ton of relationships out on the west coast w NFL players, so Robin recommended someone she’d come to know very well- former USC football standout, @randalltelfer.
Often, at our programs- I’ll set the stage w my own story- in an attempt to show how life experiences can impact any/all of us, w/o us even knowing it at the time. From there, before getting into the science of stress & trauma, & coping/resiliency tools, we’ll have members of our various alliances share their stories.
With Chamique & Tracy- as is the case at most/all events, I already knew their stories. They’d shared w us on social media, samehereglobal.org, & previous events. But w Randall, this was the first I’d met him/heard him. He’s third from the left, an imposing figure, well dressed, good looking dude, proud & sturdy in his stance. Played big time college football IN the state he grew up, & accomplished his dream of making it to the NFL. What in the world did this guy have to be vulnerable abt?
And see, that’s the beauty. And it’s what I wrote on this slide. When you get vulnerable w ppl -ESPECIALLY those you’d NEVER expect to have faced anything, you form bonds that are virtually impenetrable.
Randall heard my story for the first time that night…just as I’d heard his. And for over 2yrs now, we can go months w/o talking, & when we do, it’s like being old friends. Check out the podcast we just did (We’re All A Little “Crazy” on all podcast networks)…a strong bond BUILT on unexpected vulnerability.
