Wanted to offer my personal thoughts on something. Take this with a grain of salt—it's just one man's perspective.
I've been loving the World Cup, as I do every four years. It's an incredible competition. This year it's even more exciting because it's here on home soil. 🇺🇸 And the USA is fielding one of the strongest teams we've ever had. It's fun to root for our boys.
But I think the game has one serious flaw.
No, it's not the offside rule.
Not the low scoring.
Not even deciding matches with penalty kicks.
It's flopping.
It's everywhere. Even our own team does it.
A player barely gets clipped, then suddenly he's rolling around, grabbing his leg like he's been mortally wounded—hoping to draw a foul. The NBA has developed the same problem.
Here's my question:
What self-respecting warrior would willingly pretend to be hurt for an advantage?
Yes, I understand why it happens. The rules reward it.
That doesn't make me respect it.
I grew up admiring athletes who got knocked down, stood back up, dusted themselves off, and went back to work. If they were truly injured, they dealt with it with as much dignity as they could.
To me, strength has never been about never getting hit.
It's about what you do after you get hit.
If I coached the USA team, everyone would know one rule:
We don't flop.
If you fake an injury to gain an advantage, you sit.
Not because it doesn't work.
Because that's not who we are.
I think this reaches beyond sports.
How often are we tempted to exaggerate our pain, dramatize our hardship, or present ourselves as more wounded than we really are because there's some benefit waiting on the other side?
Victimhood can become a strategy.
I'd rather build character.
Men...
Stand up.
Refuse to flop.
Make it take a bulldozer to knock you down.
Have enough respect for yourself that your first instinct isn't to perform weakness.
Whether you're on a soccer field or living your everyday life, carry yourself like someone who remembers who he is.