Winning: From Walk-On to Captain, in Football and Life. Gary Brackett
Copyright © 2011 by Gary Brackett
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any fashion, print, facsimile, or electronic, or by any method yet to be developed, without express permission of the copyright holder.
Published by Clerisy Press
Printed in the United States of America
Distributed by Publishers Group West
First edition, first printing
For further information, contact the publisher at:
Clerisy Press
Keen Communications
PO Box 43673
Birmingham, AL 35243
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-1-57860-519-4
Cover and interior designed by Stephen Sullivan
Photos on front and back cover, plus title page are property of the Indianapolis Colts, reprinted with their permission.
Photos from Gary Brackett and his family, reprinted with permission.
Photo from the Post-Courier, reprinted with permission.
Photo on Rutgers University, reprinted with permission.
Photo on Michael Patton, reprinted with permission.
Photo on Andrew Scalini, reprinted with permission.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all I would like to thank my wife, Ragan. You amaze me with your strength. You were able to gracefully bear two beautiful children, Gabrielle and Gary Jr., while being in medical school. I love you…
Also, I would like to thank my brothers and sisters, Granville, Greg, Grant, and Gwen, and my two half sisters, Zeanetta and Cassandra. Also, all of my nieces and nephews—there are sixteen of them, so they know who they are. Big Cuz Lew, Gram, Aunt Lori, and all of my family members who supported me though my Journey.
Special thanks to all of my football coaches: Robert Cleary, Herb Neilo, Greg Schiano, Tony Dungy, and Jim Caldwell. Position coaches: Mike Dick, Rod Sharpless, Dave Steckel, Marc D’Onofrio, and Mike Murphy.
To all of the players I played with—especially Abdul Payne, L. J. Smith, Dewayne Thompson, Cato June, and David Thornton—for the many memories and good times on and off the field.
Thanks to my editors, Kevin Anderson and Timothy Alford, for all of the help with organizing my thoughts and ideas and moving forward with this book.
Also to Drew Miroff, my attorney, friend, and confidante, for being a great sounding board and offering insight on my decision.
Thanks to Clerisy Press and Richard Hunt for believing in this book and supporting it so that it could be shared with you.
And last, but certainly not least, thank you to the fans who have supported me over the years, going way back to my Glassboro days, then on to Rutgers, and now as a Colt. Thanks for cheering and believing in me, as well as sending me all of the fan mail, filled with strategy and stories of triumph. Thanks most of all for urging me to write this book and share my story, which I gratefully did, so that this in turn might inspire others. Well, here it is and I sure hope you enjoy it!
FOREWORD
BY TONY DUNGY
When I first got into coaching, Chuck Noll was my boss. He would tell me before I went on scouting trips, “Don’t go to the weighing and measuring sessions. And don’t take your stopwatch. Just watch the games, and then the films, and see who’s making the plays. Those are the guys we want to have on our team.”
Gary Brackett is one of those guys you always want on your team. But if I had carried a certain standard for an Indianapolis Colts player in terms of height, weight, speed, especially as a middle linebacker, he wouldn’t have made it. If you were in a grocery store or at the zoo, you wouldn’t walk by Gary Brackett and think, “That guy is the middle linebacker for an NFL team.” So to do what he has done is both physically and mentally incredible. He’s so competitive and so smart that when those qualities are coupled with his desire to play and win, you, as the coach, want him on the field at game time.
Much has been made of Gary being undrafted by the Colts and becoming, in time, our defensive captain. Sometimes fans think it’s harder for