Once upon a time, there was a professional football player who got the nickname "Butterfingers" because, in his first pro season, he kept dropping the ball.
This young man was an amazingly talented kid from a small town in Mississippi.
His coaches and fellow players were stunned by his raw ability.
But because the team that had drafted him was based in San Francisco, the young man found himself thousands of miles away from his friends and family for the first time in his life.
He felt lost, lonely and to top it all off, felt that he was letting his coaches and teammates down.
One day, the young man went to his coach and told him he that was going to quit.
His coach, a wise man named Bill Walsh, said this to the young man...
"Son, I'm not going to let you quit. I've seen what you can do out there.
"God has gifted you with the ability to play this game.
"I know you're a long way from home, but your teammates believe in you, the coaching staff believes in you, and I believe in you.
"I know you can do this, and I'm not going to let you quit, because I think you're going to become one of the greatest players this game has ever seen."
After his coach said this to the young man, the light went on inside his head.
And the young man transformed himself into one of the hardest-working players in the National Football League.
His workouts became the stuff of legend.
He would run drill after drill after drill, the first one on the field in the morning and the last one to leave at night.
And by the end of that very first season, Jerry Rice was on his way to becoming the greatest wide receiver in the history of the NFL.
In fact, Jerry Rice owns every NFL record for wide receivers, including most career receptions, yards receiving (over 13 MILES!), and touchdowns receiving.
And on November 4, 2010, Jerry Rice was selected by NFL Films as the greatest player in NFL history.
And it happened because one man, Bill Walsh, believed in Jerry Rice – when Jerry Rice couldn't believe in himself.
So the next time you find yourself doubting yourself, remember how powerful it is to have someone believe in you – even before you believe in yourself.
Noah's Note: When you have someone believe in you, it's a lot easier to believe in yourself.
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