Many of the best professional athletes were late bloomers, not even making the HS varsity team, getting scholarship or being drafted. It’s important to know that some people develop late. Whether that be physically, technically or in regards to sports maturity.
Motivation for young athletes
Today we’re going to cover some of the best pros in different sports.
The goal is to motivate younger athletes to keep working hard and focusing on your own work.
Don’t compare yourselves with others where it brings you down mentally…
It’s okay to know where you are compared to others so that you know where you need to be, but don’t dwell on it.
“Let each one focus on his or her own work, and you won’t need to compare yourself to others.”
NFL players who were late bloomers
- Jerry Rice – small college, yet ended up becoming the best wide receiver in NFL history.
- Kurt Warner – undrafted and ended up a super bowl champ.
- Tom Brady – drafted 7th round. Won the super bowl 7 times.
- Walter Payton – small college. Super Bowl Champ. 9x Pro Bowl. NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
- Barry Sanders – didn’t start at running back until senior year in HS. Arguably the most gifted RB, even though his team wasn’t very good and he retired earlier than expected.
- Darrel Green – High school JV player his junior year. 2x Super Bowl Champ. 7x Pro Bowl. NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
- John Randle – not drafted. 7x Pro Bowl. NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
- JJ Watt – Out of high school he was a 2 star recruit out of 5. Became a NFL 3x Defensive Player of the year.
- Jeff Saturday – undrafted. Super Bowl Champ. 6x Pro Bowl.
- Antonio Gates – undrafted. 8x Pro Bowl. NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.
“Always believe in your abilities.”
NBA stars who started late
Late bloomers in basketball who became All-Stars!
- Michael Jordan – Didn’t make the HS varsity team his Sophomore year. A year later he was being recruited to UNC.
- Hakeem Olajuwon – Started playing basketball at the age of 15 in Nigeria. He first played soccer where he credits his agility.
- Tim Duncan – Was a swimmer in the Virgin Islands, but after a hurricane destroyed the islands only Olympic size pool, he was forced to switch sports.
- Joel Embiid – Grew up in Cameroon playing volleyball and soccer. Was going to play pro volleyball in Europe, but started playing basketball at the age of 15. At a camp he was noticed by a former NBA player and by the age of 16 moved to USA to focus on B-ball.
- Dennis Rodman – Most of his HS years he was short [5’6″]. He was cut from the football team and quit basketball because he wasn’t getting much playing time. Later was recruited to a small college in Oklahoma. Read more
- Steve Francis – Didn’t start playing organized ball till he was 16.
- Dikembe Mutombo – Grew up in the Republic of Congo playing soccer and didn’t start playing basketball until he was 16. A few years later he was accepted to Georgetown University.
- Dirk Nowitzki – Was unathletic and slow as a youth in Germany, playing handball and tennis. Didn’t start playing B-ball until he turned 13 years old.
Interesting note: 5 of these 8 grew up in another country… Four of these grew up playing soccer.
Soccer players who were unnoticed
In basketball and football you sometimes see players who didn’t start playing until they were 15-16 years old…
You won’t see this happen in soccer near as much because size & speed alone won’t cut it. You HAVE to be technically sound to play pro.
- Didier Drogba – didn’t sign pro until he was 22 [late for pro footballers abroad]. His uncle said as a teenager he was clumsy in front of goal. He didn’t sign a contract until he was 23 [100k with Guingamp]. The next season he scored 17 goals and then Marseille paid 3.4M to sign him. The following year [2004] Chelsea signed him for 32M.
- Ian Wright – was spotted playing in a Sunday League before signing his first contract at age 21.
- Alex Morgan – started playing club soccer at the age of 14 before quickly becoming a top youth player in California.
- Jay Demerit – wasn’t drafted MLS or USL. Went to Europe to literally knock on club house doors where he was playing for a few non-league teams. In a preseason match with 7th tier team Northwood vs Watford [2nd tier] the coach liked and signed him. One of his years at Watford the club was promoted to the EPL. After 6 years there, he played 4 years with Vancouver. Amazing story!
- Matt Turner – started playing soccer at 14. Undrafted. Signed MLS after a preseason trial. After 7 years with NE Revolution he signed with Nottingham Forest in the EPL.
Hours and years on the ball
BIG DIFFERENCE FROM → A player 1st learning to play vs playing in a lower level league, yet practicing on your own.
You can play in lower leagues and still do well, IF you practice the right things by yourself.
There are players who didn’t grow up playing in the “best” youth leagues who ended up getting college scholarships.
You won’t regret spending extra time working on your own with the ball.
As a result, you will be better prepared and more confident.
Sports maturity
When it comes to sports maturity it can mean a lot of things, but mindset is it in one word.
Some of the most mature people in society or public can be the opposite in sports.
5 examples:
- The never give up attitude.
- Work hard on your own to improve.
- Stay humble.
- When you doubt like every human does correct the thoughts with belief.
- Be strong enough mentally to take criticism and rejection because it will happen, but it’s part of it.
The good news is there will always be late bloomers in every sports… Do you believe you can be one?
“Some of the best pros weren’t even playing at the age of 15.”
The importance of not giving up
We live in a world where kids become very good at a young age in a specific sport… Some it’s natural and others get there from hard work and extra training.
Although, we will always have late bloomers who pass everyone up late in the high school years or beyond.
Sadly, more than ever before kids are quitting sports at the age of 13 because they don’t think they are good enough…
It’s so important for youths to have parents and coaches in their lives who encourage them to have fun and practice on their own.
The ultimate goal doesn’t have to be playing pro… On the contrary, even if you don’t want to play past high school, you’ll enjoy yourself more if you practice on your own.
Never give up on something you love!
Be patient with your growth and take it one day at a time.
“It’s amazing what you can do once you set your mind to it.”
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