On the afternoon of November 8, 2011, Jesuit athletes and coaches from all sports flocked to Hughes Hall to see this year’s motivational speaker, Mike McCoy. McCoy, a decorated professional football player of the mid-1970s, won numerous awards in his football career. His accolades include being named first team All-American in 1969 at Notre Dame and being recognized as the Green Bay Packers’ Rookie of the Year in 1970. After his football career ended in 1980, McCoy shifted his focus to informing young men and women in America about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. “I wanted someone with a more Catholic message,” said Athletic Director Steve Koch on why McCoy was this year’s speaker of choice.
The distinctly Catholic message of McCoy centered on staying away from the SAD’s of this world: sex, alcohol and drugs. Throughout the course of this speech, Mr. McCoy told several heartbreaking stories of young men who experimented with drugs during high school. One young man, the son of a former teammate of McCoy, became addicted to heroin. “He tried it once at a social event and was hooked for life” explained McCoy. This drug severely altered his life path that ended in untimely death.
McCoy’s story about alcohol was more personal than his drug story. McCoy’s father suffered from alcoholism for most of his life, and McCoy was very negatively impacted by this addiction. “When I was just a fourth grader,” McCoy explained, “my father was fired from his job for stealing. I was forced to live with [his] grandparents, which was a very difficult situation.”
The last danger McCoy identified was sex. He named a few facts about STD’s and read some first-hand accounts of people who regretted their choice earlier in life to engage in premarital sex. McCoy referenced the biblical book of Proverbs in his explanation about why this was not a good idea. He stated that sex should be shared within the sacred covenant of marriage.
After his warning stories had passed, McCoy ended on a more positive note. He recounted an event from his early life, when he and two friends made a pact that they would not fall into the depths of drugs and alcohol. They vowed to do their best in athletics and academics, and because of their determination, two of them went on to play college football at the University of Notre Dame. He also explained how his love for his wife is just as strong now as ever, and that there is nothing more satisfying.
McCoy ended his speech by saying a prayer for forgiveness and guidance. He then asked each athlete to fill out a card with a self-evaluation, which included: one factor that may be holding the person back, what that person thought of the speech, and how they resolve to be a better person. McCoy received a standing ovation and then stayed afterwards to answer questions and hear comments.
