So Martin hobbled out of Coach's office, alone with his thoughts and his injured ankle, and then made his way across the football field toward the housing complex and his room. As he reached the edge of the fields he turned back and looked at Coach Ken's window and saw the telescope facing the sky. He looked up and saw a clear sky and a full moon. It was a mild summer night and a cool breeze made it feel cooler than it was.

He thought about what Coach said about being uncomfortable and realized that there were many times in his football career when he was content and comfortable, but during those times a coach, a teacher, a friend of the family, his mother, or even a fan would push him to be better. He thought back to his sophomore year in college when the head coach and the running back coach would not stop yelling at him during training camp. He could do nothing right. Even when he made a great run they said he got tackled too easily. When he missed a block during pass protection they flat-out chided him in front of the entire team. Nothing was ever good enough. He told Shawna that he was going to quit, that he couldn't take it any more. But he stayed with it and once training camp was over his coaches acted like different people. They were encouraging and supportive and stopped yelling at him. He found out that they had planned it from the start. They felt he had become content with being good and needed to be pushed to be great.

Looking back, he realized that he wouldn't have become the player he was without their pushing and coaching. He realized that sometimes a person striving for greatness needs someone to push them out of their comfort zone. He realized that everyone needs a coach to help them strive to get better. Of course, not every coach should yell at their players. Some players don't respond well to yelling, even though it worked for him, he reasoned. Coaches need to treat each player differently based on what motivates the player.

And he realized that just as his coaches in college had pushed him to improve physically, Coach Ken was now pushing him to improve mentally. He reflected on what Coach Ken said about being the best, and he knew that being the best wasn't determined by where you were born or what school you went to or who your parents are. He knew success didn't care about these things and it didn't care about how great you were. It only cared about what you were doing today to strive to be the best and how hard you were willing to work and how much dedication you were willing to give and how much you could push yourself or allow yourself to be pushed.

He was thankful for his college coaches that they pushed him to this point and he was excited about what he was learning from Coach Ken. But that excitement turned to fear when he received another important phone call.

Martin answered the phone anxiously. "Hi Shawna, how's Momma? Is she alright?"

"She's doing okay. She tried to do too much, as usual. She's just tired. Not one of her best days, but don't worry."

"Don't worry," he yelled. "How can I not worry? I should come home right now."

"No, you shouldn't. You stay right where you are and you do what you are there to do. Do you understand me?" she said with a stern voice. "I got it covered and I'm taking good care of her. Besides, if you were here all your worrying would just make everyone nervous. So you just get better and use all that nervous energy on the field to do great. You got me, my big, strong NFL running back?"

"I got it," he said with a smile.

"Do you miss me?" she asked.

"Of course I miss you. I miss you like crazy," he answered, wishing he was able to see her right now. He knew his mother was right about her. She was definitely The One. She always told him You know you've picked the right woman when she gives you strength, and Shawna certainly did that.

"Well, that's all I need to know, Martin. And all you need to know is that I'll take good care of Momma. She'll be fine tomorrow. I'm making her take it easy. Now, do what you went there to do, Martin. I'll take care of everything else. Well, Momma wants me. I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you," Martin whispered as he arrived at his dorm room. Yes, Shawna was definitely The One. He walked in and not surprisingly his roommate wasn't there. Like many of the guys, he was out on the town having a good ol' time. But not Martin. Injury or no injury, that wasn't for him. He had his girl and he had football, and he didn't want anything to get in the way of his love and passion for both of them. He walked into his room, threw himself on the bed, turned on Sports Center, and tried to take his mind off his mother. With tears in his eyes, he fell asleep.