Rediscovering Play—And Why It Matters

As a kid, I loved football—it was pure magic.

It wasn’t about winning or being the best—it was just play. Whole-hearted, joyful, and alive.

But somewhere along the way, the game changed. Or maybe I did.

Football became less about playing and more about surviving. The joy faded under the weight of mounting pressures and relentless expectations. By the time I reached the NFL, football wasn’t fun anymore.

It was survival. A constant performance to meet the world’s expectations of who I thought I was supposed to be.

What once felt light and free became a crushing weight.

Walking away from football felt like stepping off the field of the only game I’d ever known. I was lost, disconnected, and deeply dissatisfied.

But what I didn’t realize then was that I wasn’t just stepping away from the game—I was stepping into a new one.

And this game wasn’t about touchdowns or trophies.

It was about rediscovering what I’d known as a kid: the presence, joy, and aliveness that made life worth living.

It was about rediscovering play.

The funny thing about life is how it comes full circle. The kid who played football for the love of it had to leave the game entirely to remember what he once knew.

Since then, I’ve spent years confronting the discomfort I avoided, facing the fears and pressures I once buried. That process expanded my life in ways I never imagined.

It’s helped me achieve success, find inner peace, and deepen my purpose. But more than that, it’s shown me this:

The journey isn’t only about emerging out on the other side with greater resilience or authenticity.

It’s about reclaiming what we intuitively knew as kids but lost under the weight of performance, demands, and life’s heaviness.

It’s about rediscovering play.

Play isn’t something we do—it’s a state of mind. A way of being.

It reconnects us with the energy and passion we thought we’d lost. It helps us show up fully—curious, alive, and ready for whatever comes our way, no matter the circumstances.

To play is to fully engage. As a result, it fuels creativity, strengthens relationships, and breathes new life into tired hearts.

It revives us. It restores our mental health.

And why is this important?

Because this isn’t just my story—it’s the story of so many of us.

Today, people everywhere are running on empty. Tired, burned out, and stretched thin by a world that refuses to slow down. The game is beating us.

For some, it’s the game of leadership. For others, it’s business, parenting, or simply trying to make it through the day. Somewhere along the way, most of us stopped playing and started enduring.

The truth is, the world isn’t slowing down. The demands aren’t easing. The game keeps moving.

But when we rediscover play, we don’t need the world to change—we change how we move through it.

We can create workplaces, homes, and lives driven by curiosity and connection, not just productivity and pressure. We can lead from joy instead of fear.

We can bring the energy of play into the places that feel heavy, transforming not just how we work but how we live.

So, let me ask:

What would be possible if you, your leaders, or your teams were no longer driven by the relentless demands of productivity, pressure, or perfectionism—but instead, driven by play?

What could shift if we approached life and work with the curiosity, joy, and aliveness we once knew as kids?

The game doesn’t have to stop for you to remember how to play.