Don’t Hold Yourself
Back From Growth – External and Internal
By Alan ‘Shlomo’ Veingrad
Reunions -
high school, college, jobs, family - are always times of challenge and stress. Will
I be recognizable? What will people think of me? Will I be embarrassed?
And yet,
it is almost essential to not only be prepared for change that can come with
time, but to seek and embrace it. Whether it involves your business, company,
career or inner-self, standing still, being stagnant, is not the best choice,
in good times or bad.
In my
case, it’s been 20 years since my fast-paced, 6-foot-5 285-pound offensive
lineman days on a Dallas Cowboys team that won Super Bowl XXVII with a roster of
Hall of Fame and NFL No. 1 Draft Pick players, household names like Troy
Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
Today,
instead of pointing at opposing lineman or trading barbs, I point out investment
products and provide motivational speeches related to personal transformation.
But what
has changed most is my inner-self through my decision to connect with my roots
-- to become a Torah-observant Jew. Following my pro football career, I traded my
No. 76 jersey for the daily prayer shawl, my helmet for a yarmulke and beard,
by English name for my Hebrew name.
I have
received publicity over the years with my internal transformation. And some of
my fellow teammates were aware of it when I went to Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 23
and attended the 20th anniversary of our Super Bowl winning team.
Still, you never know about a re-union, until you arrive.
“Shlomo!” yelled
out former defensive lineman Russell Maryland, boisterously addressing me by my
Hebrew name when I entered the special suite for the gathering of former
champion players.
Others in
attendance were not familiar with my transformation, or religion, for that
matter, until they saw me wearing a yarmulke.
“I didn’t
know you were Jewish,” said former teammate and defensive end Charles Haley.
“Yeah!” I
responded. “I was then and I am now.”
Half way
through the second quarter, we took an elevator down from the suite for a
special, on-the-field half time ceremony. We gathered with Hall of Fame
quarterback Roger Staubach and other players from the Cowboys’ Super Bowl XII winning
team.
Wrote CBS
sports blogger Richie Whitt after the game: “With 5 Super Bowl banners hanging
from the rafters, the halftime ceremony honoring the title teams of ’77 and ‘92
featured one player (Jethro Pugh) using a walker, and another (Alan Veingrad)
wearing a yarmulke.”
I was
self-conscious that almost 82,000 fans could have been watching me on the
world’s largest HDTV screen high above the field. But I was also proud to have
worn my yarmulke. After the game, obviously more recognizable than before it, I
was enthusiastically approached by fans asking me to sign their Cowboys hats,
programs and other paraphernalia. Later, Jason Garrett, my former teammate and
current Cowboys head coach, warmly greeted me at another
special gathering in the stadium. Garrett was already familiar with my
spiritual growth based on an article he read.
“You are a
legend around here,” he said, as we posed together for a photo. “How’s all that
wisdom?”
For all
the good ribbing and conversation, I was getting hungry for some kosher food,
as was my son, who had joined me on this special journey about my past. But I
certainly left filled intellectually and spiritually from the experience and
knowledge that I gained. The program had reinforced what I often speak about:
Don’t be afraid of change and what other people think of you; People are not
always laughing at you, but with you.
Alan
‘Shlomo’ Veingrad has inspired thousands with his candid, humorous,
inspirational and spell-binding tales on life in the ultra-competitive NFL, and
how he took that fire to transform himself into a Shomer Shabbat and observant
Jew following his playing days. Based in Boca Raton, FL, Veingrad has traveled
from New York to South Africa speaking at camps, Shabbatons, school programs, yeshivas,
scholar-in-residence programs, men’s clubs, as well as charity fund raising
events. He is often asked to speak to businesses and corporations looking to
inspire their employees, and is an inductee of the
National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. For speaking engagements,
Veingrad can be reached at alan@alanveingrad.com. To read more and see
videos about him, visit www.alanveingrad.com.
