Keith Mitchell: Exclusive Interview
A lot of what I just talked about is also related to the people who made us, our parents. In my life for example, I saw this building and it came to a point where my own father, who was my motivation, told me: “I don’t think you can do this, I don’t think you should focus on sports, I think you should focus more on the academics”. That was my boiling point I guess. It was so weird for me because I wasn’t even playing sports at this point, I was in the process of convincing my mother to let me play. That’s really me, forward thinking, I wasn’t even on the field yet, I wasn’t even good yet. I guess it was me manifesting. So, I guess we have to be mindful in passing on the fears that we have and install those in our kids.
OMTimes: What do you mean by “An Athlete feeds on doubt and set goals fueled by fear”?
Keith Mitchell: Because there’s always that fear in the back of our mind and I guess in some cases it’s inherited and it comes up because being an athlete is so competitive. These guys are the best of the best and they have to perform at these high levels, especially the more money they make, the more things are on the line for as winning. So the dynamics are fear, everyone has it, until you find that zone, you have this fear and it builds up until the first hit and when the hit goes… it’s real and it goes away. It’s weird but it just happens. It goes on in every athlete from middle school to the pros and it never seems to go away.
OMTimes: I heard you saying “It was embarrassing to lay vulnerable on the ground as a tough NFL linebacker.” How do you experience being vulnerable today?
