The Most Interesting Scout in The World…(A Parody) I Scout with One Eye Closed to give the Other Scouts a Chance! I go to Games so They can Scout Me! I only Write Reports on Hall of Famers! Nick Saban used to Ask Me, Who to Recruit. I get One Game Credential and it’s Good for All Games. There are NO College Restrictions for Me. I pick the Players for the Combine, Not the NFL. Football Programs ask Me to Come to Their Games and Campuses. I don’t time the 40, I tell you what you run. ESPN asks Me what Games to Schedule. Daniel Jeremiah and Mel Kiper try to Impress Me. Marriott uses My Points. My Number of Followers on Twitter is listed as Mankind. Scout Thirsty, My Friends!

Typical Young Person who wants to get into Scouting Opening Line on LinkedIn: Aspiring NFL GM or NFL Scout. What about “Aspiring to Start at the Botton and Work My Way Up.” Another Line: I’m a Hard Worker. What about “I am a Hard Worker who Produces Excellent Results.” We all can’t be GM’s. I know! And We all can’t be NFL Scouts but We all can have a Good or Great career in Football. Keep Building Your Football Resume! Just some Thoughts……..

Might be the best commercial for a video game we’ve EVER seen.

Per his LinkedIn account (linkedin.com/in/jordan-fox-b…), Jordan Fox (@J_Fox10) has been promoted from Player Personnel Scout to Pro Scout by the #49ers. Fox has previous experience w/the #Jets and played LB at @StanfordFball.

Remember who are you! Be You! The Bond has to be Reciprocal in Life to Others and not about You!

A Cold Call Ogden, UT, Spring of 1987, I cut out a blurb about Arena Football League in The Sporting News (that publication was the Bible of Sports at a time before the internet!). I was a graduate assistant football coach at Weber State making $249 a month and needed a job! The 1-inch by 2-inch blurb said that Arena Football was going to start that, Summer. Jim Foster, the creator and founder said the 4-team league will play an 8-game schedule with the top 2 teams playing in the Arena Football Championship. The league’s headquarters was based in Chicago. I needed a job, and I had big brass balls, so I cold called Jim Foster of Chicago. There was no internet/google at that time but there was 411 on the telephone. 411 was phone information. The long-distance operator assistant gave the names of 4 Jim Foster’s that lived in Chicago. I proceeded to call them. My first call was The Jim Foster that was the Arena Football founder. I introduced myself and convinced himself that he should interview me. I flew out to Denver to meet him and bullshited my way into a job as a Team Manager for the Pittsburgh Gladiators (I changed the title to General Manager to have more clout in the job). Who would have thought a cold call would work! It turned out to be just a Summer job, and I ended back at Weber State. This is the short version of the story. Lots of twists and turns getting out to Denver. I now encourage young men and women who want to get into my profession or any profession to cold email employers that they want to work for! It is only an email – what could it hurt! You might plant a seed to grow a tree down the road! Some seeds grow faster than others, but we all need a JOB! Have conviction or a big set of brass balls and try it. Stranger things have happened to us!!

May the 4th be with You… May the Gors be with You!!

This Post is Dedicated to All the Scouts that have been Released. A LETTER TO A FOOTBALL FRIEND! I saw a friend at a college football game I was covering for the Senior Bowl, and we talked about Football and Life, my two favorite subjects. He was fired from a big time football position mostly from a lack of support from the TOP (Ownership). We talked about how people perceived him after his firing. Great conversation about Life. When we went up to the press box, I thought about people’s perception of how they label people in sports as Winners and Losers. After the game, I wrote this note and mailed it him. "Anonymous Football Friend", Good to see you and talk about Life and Football! Wins and Loses are not a measure of the Person’s Success. Both are part of the life we chose Our Longevity in the Sport is our Success! We have experiences that Fans and Media wished they had, except for the Losing! The meetings, the draft, the practices, the games, the half-times, the comradery, the highs, the lows, the joy, the sorrow of Football. They (the Fans, the Media) don’t know how hard we worked and the sacrifices we made to get involved with our passions! You are Successful! Yours in Football Mark “Gors”

Self Explanatory

THINGS I DISLIKE! I was going to use the word “Hate” but that is too powerful and frankly an evil word to use! I don’t Hate anyone or anything, so Dislike is more positive in a negative sense! I dislike people who have big titles and make a lot of money thinking they have more worldly experiences and better advice for people who do not have titles and or make big money! We all have worldly experience and are capable of making great decisions without their advice! I dislike having to grading a bad football player and then writing the report. I dislike the end of a ketchup bottle. And I cannot get last bit of ketchup out. I dislike people who have all the answers. I dislike taking out the garbage. I dislike having to justify my life to people. Just accept people for what they are! I dislike people that have an excuse for not working out, bad eating habits or not wanting to go to the doctor for a medical issue. We only have one of these vessels (our body) to last our lifetime! Let’s take care ourselves to live a full and prosperous life. I dislike shaving every morning, but I got too much gray in my beard now! So, I would rather shave! I always disliked “line jumpers” since grade school lunch! I dislike people who cannot say something nice! Life is short – Why not be nice! I dislike people who label you and don’t want you to be creative! Be Different, Be Creative! I dislike people who need others to show them how to use their computers or cellphones! Just Google it! I dislike people who ask a question and then answer it for you! Why did you ask then!! I dislike things that I cannot control. So, I quit worrying about the uncontrollable. I dislike people who do not want to take a risk! I would not be where I am today if I did not take a risk! It is important to get out of your comfort zone to see if you have the creativity and survival skills necessary to succeed! Take the Dare!!! I Dare You! So, you have some Dislikes! What are you going to do about it? Some you can change but you will always make garbage! So, take the garbage out!! Take the garbage out physically in your house and also mentally in your mind!

Lake Street Dive at Heinz Hall with the Orchestra!

After talking to Coaches and Scouts, it’s clear that everyone is looking for Miss America or Captain America at QB. Perfect everything…. I’m not. I’m looking for a QB who can Win the Super Bowl. Because the truth is, not every Super Bowl Winning QB was Perfect. They weren’t Pageant Winners; They were Winners. Same goes for Life. We don’t marry the Perfect Partner;  We marry the Right One. The One we can Live with and Win with. So, forget Perfect. Can You Win with Him? Just an Opinion.

Great Time with the HBCU and International Players Program Football Showcase at the Washington Commanders!

Walk the Building! Whenever and Wherever I have ever Scouted when I walked in the football facility, I would say Hello to coaches, support staff, equipment managers, cafeteria workers, security people and even the janitors. If time permitted, I would stop in the Recruiting Sweat Shops of Student Interns, Graduate Assistants and Staff Members and hold impromptu Scouting Seminars. I wanted to make a connection to get to know them better. Find out about their interests and let them know me. I saw Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert and Mr. Dan Rooney do this daily in the Steeler Facility. Where in the morning, they greet the office workers. A simple, “Good Morning”, can go a long way to make people feel good. Bosses that do not do this are not leaders. Cultural is built from the bottom up. The bottom line is people who don’t interact, hide in their office or don’t eat with their co-workers, just do not care about others. Caring goes a long way when people see you and your good intentions! The Little, The Simple, Mean the Most, to People! Do the Walk!

DO YOU HAVE SURVIVAL SKILLS? What would you do to survive while getting job experience in your field? Here are some of the experiences that I survived to get ahead in FOOTBALL! While as a graduate assistant football coach I tended bar at a rough, tough dive bar called the Eldersburg Inn that was nicknamed “the Knife and Gun Club!” I was the only one in it that did not have a knife and gun! I slept in the coaches locker-room on a ratty leather couch some nights! One night I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and was walking bare foot. I felt crunching noises underneath my feet. I turned on the light and saw I was walking on cockroaches coming out of the couch! I had nowhere to go that night, so I turned off the light and went back to sleep on the coach! They only came out at night so as long as I got up before daylight, I was OK! I am not lying to you! I took a dare to go to Ogden, Utah to be a graduate assistant for football marketing at Weber State that turned into coaching tight ends and handling team travel. I travelled from Miami, FL to Ogden, UT where I just completed graduate school with a worthless sports administration master’s in a beaten-up silver Volkswagen Rabbit nicknamed the Silver Surfer! The alternator was shot after the first day. A trucker at rest-stop showed me how to jump start it with a jumper cable from the car battery tapping a screwdriver that was touching the inside of the starter! Try making a 38-hour, 2568.1-mile trip that way! I have other stories featuring my survival skills! But I am a little crazy! I have a lot of respect for people who had it rough to get ahead in their careers. I have very little respect for the ones who were born with the silver spoons in their mouths So how badly do you really want job experience? Sometimes You just have to Suck it up Buttercup!!