Super Bowl Champ Inspires Students

By Michael Schrader

“I had no desire, no discipline, and no direction.”

Steve Wallace, a 49ers offensive linemen and a three time Super Bowl Champ, started his speech on Saturday, February 4, 2012 with this quote. Wallace was brought to inspire Marian University students at the Second Annual Aspiring Leaders Conference.

Students had the opportunity to learn from some of the top local and national leaders in their fields, including keynote speakers Steve Wallace, Colleen Rickenbacher, and Jerry Jones.

Wallace, who headed the conference, told about how his life shaped him into a leader.

After setting fire to a man’s home, he said the man had him over for a talk. In that conversation, the man told Wallace, “In everything you do, give it your all.” And when taking this life lesson to his school¬work, he told the audience he went from C’s and D’s to A’s and B’s.

Moving on in life, Wallace said that he was pushed into playing football by his father, who gave him the same advice as the other man, “In everything you do, give it your all.”

With sports now in the picture, Wallace decided it was time to set goals for himself. Wallace said goal setting “creates a level of motivation in order to get things done.” Not to overload, he only set three, one of which was going to college.

That was achieved when he accepted to play football at Auburn University.

Wallace also put importance on having focus, even going as far as having the audience shot out the word several times.

Then, Wallace asked everyone if they were blessed, skillful and talented. When the audience answered yes, he yelled out, “What are you waiting for then?”

To wrap up his speech, Wallace concluded with an example of one of his Super Bowl experiences. The night before the Super Bowl, the Sports analysts all said Wallace was going to be dominated by the defensive linemen he was facing. While at first nervous, Wallace explained that he stayed focus and stuck to his assignment, and at the end of the day, the opposing linemen had zero tackles and zero assists.

Wallace’s concluding words to all of Marian’s aspiring leaders were, “There is no substitute for hard work.”
Students attending the confer¬ence also learned proper etiquette for the business world, how to share your vision with others, what it means to be a servant leader, and how to network in the 21st Century.