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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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[APPLAUSE]

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SEAN ADAMS: I love sports.

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I've loved them from the
time I was a young man.

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I loved them even
though I didn't grow up

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in a sports family.

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I think I fell in
love with sports

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because I saw it as honest.

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If you can produce,
you get to play.

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And it was that simple.

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I come to you today
to talk to you

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about maybe an
importance in sports

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that we haven't
recognized before.

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I've been able to do a ton
of things because of sports.

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I was able to represent
my university.

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I was able to become
an All-American.

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I won watches.

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I was in magazines.

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And all of that
pales when we talk

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about the importance of what
could be in sports right now.

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Historically, there's
been four ways by which

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we raise men in this country--

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in the home, in the church, in
the military, and in sports.

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Cultural changes
have changed the mix

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on the importance of
how those things work.

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In the home-- right now, one
third of American children,

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about 15 million children, grow
up in a home with no father.

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That's a lot of
young boys growing up

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without a daily example
of manhood in their home.

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In church-- census tells
us that less than 20%

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of American citizens go
to church, attend a church

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service, on a regular basis.

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And if social trends
in America follow

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Europe, like they
usually do, by 2025,

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the number could be 12% or
13% of American citizens

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attend a church service
on a regular basis.

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Because of technology,
cyber advancements,

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the current
administration's desire

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to bring the number of
active military down

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to its lowest point since
World War II, 80% of applicants

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to the military get turned away.

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We're not raising a lot of
men in the military either.

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What we're left with is sports.

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Could be the last
bastion by which we

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give the characteristics
and the virtues

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with which we raise men.

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In sports-- where we learn the
virtue of the huddle, where you

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take north and south, east and
west, conservative and liberal,

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black and white, you put
them in the same huddle,

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you give them the
same color Jersey,

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you give them a common goal.

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And you let them sweat, tear
up, and work hard together.

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And special things
start to take place.

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Where we learn teamwork,
community, fidelity.

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We care about each other,
don't let each other down.

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The old coach's term that says
teams that play for a great fan

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base win a lot of games.

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Teams that play for a great
coach win a lot of games.

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Teams that play for each
other win championships.

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It's a concept we could use
in our families right now.

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What about pride, where I'm
constantly reminded that pride

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is the worst of the seven sins?

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And I constantly have to
remind people, unfortunately,

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I got a lot of it.

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But I don't think I'd get
anywhere in this world

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without some pride,
without some passion,

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without some accountability.

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Where pride for me means
personal responsibility

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in daily excellence.

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That's my pride.

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We talk about failure,
the virtue from failure,

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sports, based in failure
sometimes, those under virtues

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that allow us to succeed in
life because we've experienced

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some failure in other places.

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I wanted to be a
national champion.

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I've been blessed enough
to be an All-American.

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I've done a ton of stuff.

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But I've never been an
individual national champion.

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We get to my senior year.

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We're at North Carolina state.

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And I have a shot to
be a national champion

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in a number of events.

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I get second place.

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I get third place.

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So I'm All-American again, but
I'm not a national champion.

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And that's what I wanted to be.

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We get to the four
by four relay.

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I'm the anchor, and
I want it on me.

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I'm the kid.

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I sat in front of my house
with my Walter Mitty stories

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thinking I'm putting myself in
places where I can be the hero.

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I counted down 3, 2,
1 and shot the basket.

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I wanted to anchor that
four by four relay.

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We get down to the anchor,
and I'm waiting like this.

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And I'm waiting for my
guy to bring me the baton.

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He gives me the baton,
I take off running.

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I'm in third place by
about 12 or 13 meters.

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Within the first 50 meters, I
go pass the guy in second place.

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Somewhere along
the back straight,

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I pull up next to the
guy in first place.

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And for the life of me, I have
no idea why I don't go by him.

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My coach had always told me,
if you get up next to him,

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you have to go by him and
make him run your race.

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If you sit next to him,
you'll end up running his.

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I run tied with him
for about 200 meters

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until we get to 50 meters to go.

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I'm closing in.

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About 40 meters to go, he
starts pulling in front of me,

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and he's pulling a little
further away from me.

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And finally, I'm
getting the notion

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with about 10 or 15 meters to
go that I'm going to get my team

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second place again.

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I was miserable.

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I was crushed.

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At that moment, it was
one of the toughest things

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I ever had to experience.

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But you know what
I learned from it?

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One, do what your coaches and
your teachers and your parents

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tell you to do,
because they usually

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know a lot more than you do.

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If I'd done what I was
coached to do that day,

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I win that race.

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Two, failure is not permanent.

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Failure is like a rain cloud,
and sometimes it rains on you.

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And you got to ride it out.

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And three, if you
don't internalize it

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and you don't
personalize it, you'll

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realize it's just
a part of life,

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and you will grow and
become better for it.

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All those lessons I learned
in sports to manage failure,

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to be in community, to
understand the characteristics

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of diversity, to understand
the interconnected relationship

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between preparation and
success, all of these virtues

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that we have learned in so
many other places in life

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that seemingly we have to learn
in sports now, where are we

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going to get them from?

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How important does
sports become?

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Four, Supreme Court justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes,

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probably more
popularized for coining

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the phrase "clear
and present danger,"

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also said, "The
place for any man

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completing all of his
powers is in the fight."

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And I don't know if I'm
completing all of my powers.

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But having the
opportunity through sports

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to fight for the growth and
development of young people

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when seemingly every historic
fixture around them is breaking

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is a fight that I'm
honored to be in.

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Thank you very much.

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[APPLAUSE]

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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