Town Pride: Allen Pinkett on Brotherhood and Rivalry Week

I'm going to turn it over to Coach Bernardi, who helped go ahead and reserve our speaker for tonight. I guarantee many of you don't know him, but I know some parents, specifically those that are Notre Dame fans, will recognize the name as well. All right, really excited about tonight's speaker.

Introducing Notre Dame Legend Allen Pinkett

 So I'm going to give you a little background as to why I'm excited. Okay, my father attended Notre Dame Law School. So, growing up, I was a Notre Dame football fan. So, through the '80s and in the '90s, that's on Saturdays. I was stuck in front of the TV watching Notre Dame football. Okay, this speaker that is going to get up here in a moment and talk to you is one of my favorite all-time Notre Dame football players. And as you will see in a moment, he is not the biggest.

He is not the tallest to ever play his position, but when I spoke to you three weeks ago, I talked to you about the heart of a champion. This individual has that heart. He was born in 1964. He grew up in Sterling, Virginia. He attended Parkview High School. He excelled as a multi-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. In football, he earned all-state, all-region, all-district. Was named Adidas All-American. Set numerous school and regional records. As a sprinter, he finished third in the Virginia State Championships in the 100-meter dash. Academically, he was recognized as the most outstanding student, and was a member of the National Honor Society.

He received a scholarship to play football at the University of Notre Dame, he did that from 1982 to 1986. He was a two-time All-American, a two-time captain of their football team. He finished in eighth place in 1985 with the Heisman Trophy. He left Notre Dame as the school's all-time leading rusher and scorer, and he still holds the university record for most touchdowns scored at 53. In 1986, he got drafted by the Houston Oilers, where he played six seasons. He led the team in rushing in 1991. Was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week twice during his professional career. After his playing days, he transitioned into broadcasting. He currently is a podcaster for Notre Dame football and the Indianapolis Colts. He work, or excuse me, he works with LocaliQ, which is a digital marketing arm for USA TODAY. He is married to Carol. He has three children, a grandchild, or child, excuse me. He, his daughter Izzy, is a sophomore here at the high school. It, with great pleasure and a privilege, to introduce Allen Pinkett. Thank you, coach.

Turning a State Championship Loss Into Fuel

It's a pleasure, and I feel honored to be able to come and and speak to you guys. And just for some perspective, I graduated from high school 44 years ago. It may not look like it, but 44 years ago I graduated. But there's not a day that passes that I don't remember playing high school football. It was one of the great joys. Of my life, in in high school, I was fortunate to be able to play in our Virginia high school state championship. I ran for 230 yards. I scored four or five. I think it was five touchdowns, and we lost. All right. So I bring that up to you because you know sometimes when you lose.

You're hurt, but I always use that as a reason to try to get better. And I'm telling you, there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about what could I have done differently to get that extra yard, you know. But I, I really went to work after that, and you know, I put the work in the weight room. I put the work in the classroom, and was able to, you know, chase my dream, which was to. Play in the NFL, but the high school part. I think you guys have, because I come to games. I watch you. You've you've done something similar. First game didn't go your way, but I don't see anybody in here moping, because what you've done since then is whoop everybody's ass. You know. So I mean, that's sort of the beauty of football. Is this is your family, and you guys have established a brotherhood where it doesn't just come from one person. It takes every single person in this room to win a game.

It Takes Everybody: Playing for the Guy Next to You

I'm gonna date myself, but anybody in here ever heard of Tom Brady? Everybody knows who Tom Brady is. Hell of a quarterback, right? Yeah. Problem is he can't throw it to himself. He can't play defense. You know, so it takes everybody to win a game. And the the nice thing about it is, football is one of those sports where, when you play it, you realize you're representing something bigger than yourself. You're playing for the guy next to you.

You know, and that's one of the things I learned when I played in, in the NFL was, you know, some guys had families, and you know it's important for that family to eat. So I can't make a mistake, because I would jeopardize this guy feeding his family. You know, so when all of you are on the same page and on the same accord, you get results like you've gotten the last three weeks, and the. The nice thing about it is, no one can break that bond that you have, and you guys will be family for life. I still talk to some guys I played in high school with, in college with, in the NFL with. You will go to weddings. Unfortunately, you'll go to some funerals. But you have that brotherhood now, and that brotherhood is magnified by the fact that you are winning games.

You have made the decision that this is important to you, and you want to go win.

Why Rivalry Games Carry Higher Stakes

And I know every game is important, but rivalry rivalry games take on a little more significance. Because I remember my rival when I was in high school was Broad Run High School, and we used to kill them every year. But this rivalry. It's important for really one reason: pride. Town pride. You know, a town that has a football team that wins this rivalry game is a town with big shoulders, and that is going to be important down the road. You know, it might be 10 years from now. You're speeding down 30 and you get pulled over.

All right, but then the cop recognizes, "Oh, you played in that game, and won, and you made him feel so proud. He won't give you a ticket. Yeah, just don't go driving Chesterton, though. He might put you in jail. You may be five years from now, searching for a job, and this is a job that is coveted by a bunch of people. Well, that employer. Will recognize the fact that you played in this game, and you made him feel proud to be from Valpo, and you'll get hired. So the stakes are higher for a rivalry game.

Execution Over Competition

Now the thing is, you don't have to do anything different than what you've been doing because what you've been doing has been working. But you may want your preparation to be a little sharper. You may want to go over the game plan. You know, one or two more times. You definitely want to relax, because that's why you practice so much. You practice so it feels comfortable, because really, it doesn't matter who's on the field tomorrow. It's how you play, not what they do. It's never about the level of competition. It's always about your level of execution. But it feels so much better when it's against a rival, and I've lived here for I guess what 17 years, and I didn't know much about Valpo, but I sure am glad that I didn't choose Chesterton because their nickname, the Trojans, the team I hated the most was the USC Trojans, and I could never support a school that was a Trojans, and we've got. Parents here, so I won't say what I usually say about the Trojans.

No Regrets: Trust the Game Plan and Have Fun

But in a rivalry game, guys, it's just you're going to always remember what you did in this particular game, and you don't ever want to have any regrets. But you won't have regrets if you listen to your coaches, you know. Coaches are going to give you a great game plan, try to put you in the best position to win, but honestly, they're not on the field. It comes down to you guys and how bad you guys want it, and how bad you want to get out of that speeding ticket ten years from now. But go into the game focused. You know, relax, and most of all, playing this game is fun.

And it's even more fun when you can drop forty on their ass, you know.

What Football Gave Me: A Brotherhood for Life

So, I just want to say that I am happy to be able to speak to you guys and just talk a little bit because football changed my life. Football gave my life purpose. Football created a lot of opportunities for me. But the the best thing it did was it established a brotherhood where I don't care where I go, there's always somebody I can call that if I need help with something, if I need direction on something, whatever I need, because I've got a family of former players that we all stick together, and I would encourage you, you know, stay together, because like I told you, it doesn't just. You can't win a game with just one person. It takes everybody. So with everybody on the same page, there's no way you can be defeated. So tomorrow night is your turn to write history. Hopefully, it'll be something that you'll always remember. Thanks again, guys.