Heart

It's not a stat, a metric, or a number. There isn't a test or a score. It’s not tangible, or something you can touch, or even something you can always comprehend. There's no magic formula, no book, no instructions. It's not a specific word, phrase, or speech memorized. You know it when you see it.

It's the champions, the winners, the record holders, but not the ones that are supposed to be. The best come from those who aren’t supposed to win, not supposed to achieve, the one everyone doubts. It happens when the deck is stacked against them. It's winning when everyone counts you out. It's defying the odds, annihilating a point spread, and driving your TEAM down for the winning touchdown (Eli). Just know it shows up when it matters most.

Trust it's in the undrafted and the #1 draft pick, the unsigned and the biggest of contracts, the unwanted and the coveted. Their measurement however comes when opportunity is presented and how they react. It’s what someone puts on display when they are backed up, counted out, or forgotten. Bottom of the ninth or the last round, seconds left or the last hour, it’s about what happens as time expires that defines.

Everyone has a little. Arguable whether it's taught or something you are born with. Coached or God-given? Studied or spontaneous? Learned or DNA? Hard to know for sure… but believe it when you see it.

Forget the stats, forget the metrics. Forget the favored or the expected. Give me the underdog. Give me the forgotten. Give me heart.