---
title: "Discomfort Isn't Incapability: Coach Marshall on True Toughness"
description: Coach Marshall redefines toughness as the trained ability to do your job when tired, hurting or afraid, as the Vikings open Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
---

[Coach's Corner and QBC Blog](https://valpovikingsqbc.org/coachs-corner-and-qbc-blog)

# [Discomfort Isn't Incapability: Coach Marshall on True Toughness](https://valpovikingsqbc.org/coachs-corner-and-qbc-blog/discomfort-isnt-incapability-coach-marshall-on-true-toughness)

 Written by [Coach Bill Marshall](https://valpovikingsqbc.org/coachs-corner-and-qbc-blog/author/coach-marshall) | Oct 2, 2026, 2:38:14 PM

We're not going to start in the traditional sense today. You obviously have noticed a theme with the tablecloths, some of what the parents have on and are will and are wearing currently. So we're going to start with David, who's going to stand up and talk to you. As many of you know, today is October 1st, and throughout the entire month of October, David's going to talk about an initiative that we have. Go ahead, David.

## Why We Wear Pink in October

Okay, so most of you guys probably know why I'm up here already, but for those of you who don't, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, and since then it's been like kind of a long battle, but like she has beat it for the most part, so we're all good. We're out of we're out of the woods, you know, it's all clear. But my grandmother also was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, and again in 2012, and she beat it both times, and so Like obviously, this month is very important to me and my family, and so I just wanted to talk about you know like the reason we wear the pink for October, because you guys probably see in the NFL and like a lot of other sports teams do this, but basically, Breast Cancer Awareness Month was started in 1985 as a joint initiative by the American Cancer Society and a pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries, and they started it kind of just like to start recognizing and like.

Get people to notice and go to appointments and checkups and stuff like that. And so, for those of you don't know, roughly 13% or about one eighth of all women and men will end up with breast cancer throughout their life. So I bet almost all of you could name more than eight women in your family that are very important to you. So like that's a pretty drastic statistic. And so you know by wearing like pink for our games. We let like people who are struggling with disease show that we're like here for them, and that we are like supporting them and able to help them through their fight. And then, like we signify to all of our fans and all the people in the stands that we're like one community, and that like anything like we're going through, we can do it together. And we also show that like we are united not only as like a team but as a family. So like you guys are all gonna get wristbands with the breast cancer awareness logo on it.

That are pink, and if you could wear them throughout the month of October, my family would really appreciate it. And the dessert tonight was donated by my grand my grandparents, and so my mom wanted me to say that because of October. All right, thank you guys.

## Toughness Is Trained, Not Ignored

All right, so my message might seem long, four pages, but it'll go fast. I promise you. So please lock in. All right, today's message is about toughness. It obviously goes very much hand in hand with David and the fight that his family has kind of experienced, but here's some things I want you to understand about toughness. I've looked at it from a historical, excuse me, perspective. I've looked at it from just a toughness, what it was like as a young man growing up, being an older man now. I won't say old, but older man now. All right. So toughness is not ignoring being injured or acting emotionless. All right. It's trained. It is the trained ability to execute your responsibility.

When you're tired, when you're uncomfortable, when you're frustrated, when you're pressured, or even when you're afraid, there's going to come a point in the game of football of which probably many of you have already had. When talent doesn't matter nearly as much as something else. I'm tired. This hurts. I don't know if I can keep doing this. And that moment is incredibly, incredibly important because that's where this word toughness begins. Not when everything feels good. When everything starts getting difficult, that's when you go ahead and define toughness. I don't know whether or not you know this, but I keep track of injury reports. Anybody want to guess? After a victory, or after defeat, do we have more injuries that pop up come Monday? After a defeat. Not saying they're not substantial. Not saying that they're not authentic. But again, you lose, you feel things a little bit differently than when you win.

## What Toughness Is Not

 A lot of young men, much like yourselves, misunderstand toughness.

- They think toughness means being angry.
- They think toughness means yelling.
- They think toughness means never showing emotion.
- They think toughness means being the guy who talks the most trash or attempts to hit somebody the hardest.

Make no mistake. One more time, toughness is the ability to do what is required, regardless of how you feel. There is something fascinating about fatigue. Research is so shown that mental fatigue can make physical exercise feel harder, and can then decrease your physical performance. The work simply feels harder, but it doesn't mean you're incapable. That distinction matters, because during a football game, your brain is going to constantly receive information. I'm hot. I'm tired. I'm hurting. We're behind. That guy across from me is good. He's fast. I just screwed up. I don't want to run another sprint.

## Discomfort and Incapability Are Not the Same Thing

The mentally tough athlete learns to hear those messages without automatically obeying them. They are not commands. They are feelings of your information. Don't spend your energy trying to eliminate the pressure in your life. Don't chase comfort. Don't chase excuses. Learn how to perform inside of it. Toughness isn't just surviving difficult moments. Toughness is preparing so thoroughly that you are ready when those moments arrive. Anybody can get excited Friday afternoon. Tough players prepare Monday morning. Anybody can play hard with the students section screaming. Tough players practice hard when nobody is watching. Anybody can watch their highlights on film. Tough players watch the play where they got embarrassed and ask, "How can I fix that?" Discomfort and incapability are not the same thing.

## Football Reveals Who You Are

Football has a very interesting way of revealing who you are. When you're exhausted, when your habits appear, when you're losing, your character appears. When somebody else gets the credit, your maturity appears. When coaches correct you, your ego appears. When you're hurt, your judgment matters. Toughness means communicating injuries and getting proper care, not hiding or making up one. When you're afraid, your courage appears. And understands this: courage does not mean you aren't afraid. Courage means fear doesn't get a decision.

## Life's Fourth Quarter Moments

You are building something bigger than football. Here's what I hope you eventually understand: we're not really talking about football anymore at these Friday night meals. Someday there won't be a Friday night. There won't be another locker room. There won't be another fourth quarter. But there will still be fourth quarter moments.

College may give you some. Going into the workforce will definitely give you some. Your career will give you some. Marriage will give you some. Fatherhood will definitely give you some. Life will give you some fourth quarter moments. There will be mornings when you don't feel motivated. There will be failures. There will be disappointment. There will be times when life doesn't go according to your plan. And someday nobody is going to blow the whistle. And tell you to keep going, and encourage you to keep going. You're going to have to tell yourself. That is one of the greatest things football can teach a young man: is that toughness. Am I finished, or am I actually just uncomfortable?

## Where Has the Toughness Gone?

So where has the toughness gone? I want you to understand about how many older men like myself and our coaches look at your generation. Okay, this is straight from the heart.

Fair or unfair, many believe toughness is disappearing. They look around society and they see more comfort, more convenience, more ways to avoid things that are difficult. If you're bored, there's a screen. If something takes too long, there's probably a shortcut. If something makes you uncomfortable, it's easier to walk away from it now. Previous generations weren't automatically tougher. And they certainly weren't perfect. Let's be honest. Every generation is going to face different challenges, but there is a question worth asking in that: if our lives do become more comfortable or are more comfortable, where are we ever going to learn how to be uncomfortable? That's one reason places like this, football, matter. The weight room, the practice field, the conditioning, the competition.

Football gives you the opportunity:

- To voluntarily do tough shit.
- To get knocked down and to get back up.
- To fail and return again tomorrow.
- To sacrifice for somebody else To hear criticism without falling apart.
- To keep working when nobody's going to reward you.
- To discover that being uncomfortable doesn't mean something is wrong.

Last page, I promise.

## Don't Argue With Us. Show Us.

And maybe your generation now has an opportunity. Don't argue with us, the older generation, about whether young men are still tough.

Show us.

- Show us that you are.
- Show us through your discipline.
- Show us through your work ethic.
- Show us through your accountability to yourselves and to each other.
- Show them by keeping your word.
- Show them by finishing what you start.

And show them by becoming young men who can be counted on when things get difficult, because society will never ever have too many of those tough men.

*Photos courtesy of [Palmer Photography](https://palmerphotography.net).*

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