"I want to make sure that feeling stays with me." Michael Phelps gives awe-inspiring speech to Alabama football team
Michael Phelps is widely regarded as the greatest athlete of all time. He's the most accomplished Olympian ever, the one standing alone atop the leaderboard with 28 medals. When he stepped into the pool, there was a much better chance he'd win than he'd lose.
In college football, the Michael Phelps equivalent could be Alabama. Their football team is widely considered the best program of all time. When they step on the field, there's a much better chance they'll win than lose.
"You get one chance to do something special... Don't waste it." @MichaelPhelps https://t.co/jhOfFK4KqK
Phelps spoke to the Alabama football team, giving them one of his most inspirational speeches. He said:
"Well, I want to open up with a quote that's one of my favorite quotes. It's [that] actions speak louder than words. That literally is what defines my career. I made my first Olympic team, 15 years old. I got fifth place. I wasn't happy, I wasn't satisfied."
The legendary swimmer went on to say that he never wanted to settle for having just participated:
"They gave me a piece of paper that said congratulations, you participated. That piece of paper motivated me for that whole next four years. I said, 'There's not a shot in hell this is ever going to happen again.' My very first race, I did not medal. And then in 2012, I had one race that I didn't medal in."
To be the best, Phelps had to work the absolute hardest. The feeling of not being good enough is something he used to get better at his sport. He said:
"I can go back and look at those races because I want to make sure that feeling stays with me until the next time I have a chance to go out there and do the same thing again."
Why Michael Phelps refused to take days off
The 23-time gold medalist refused to almost ever take a day off while he was active. That's a big reason he stands where he does today. He added:
"From 2002 to 2008, guess how many days I took off? In those six years, guess how many days I took off? None. Zero. Why? I wanted something that nobody else had the opportunity to get. I was willing to do more than anybody else on the planet was willing to do."
As a result, the swimmer got to the place he wanted to. He probably wouldn't have without intense dedication. He continued:
"I got the results. I wanted to do it because I wanted that chance. Nobody's going to give you that chance. You're going to have to earn that chance. That's all I wanted. I wanted to bust my a** every single day to earn that one chance. Wherever that took me, it took me."
He refused to let anyone take his chance away. He said:
"Every time I would go to practice, my coach would say jump and I would say, 'How high?' Because I knew there were thousands of other kids, hundreds of thousands of other kids that were doing the same thing. They were not going to take that opportunity away from me."
After all that, he stands alone at the top. The Alabama football team might not see the same success, but it seems unlikely that they won't be heavily impacted by Phelps' speech.