The Hard Hat: 21 Ways to Be a Great Teammate

Chapter 14Learning from George

Several years after my conversation with Jeff, I decided to attend the annual 21 Dinner in New York City. Hundreds of George's former teammates, friends, and family members gathered to support the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation, which was founded by his friends and teammates. I didn't know exactly why I decided to attend, but felt I was supposed to be there.

The dinner was held in late January and a snowstorm hit the western Virginia area where I had a speaking engagement the day of the 21 Dinner. After the event that morning, I walked outside to heavy snowfall and found out that my flight to New York had been canceled. I had a choice. I could wait out the storm or find another way to get there. As fate would have it, the president of the company that had invited me to speak was also heading to New York. He pulled up in the back of a taxi headed to Washington, DC, where we could take a train to New York. I hopped in and we drove 182 miles, with our incredible driver, Samad, through a snowstorm on icy, unplowed roads, avoiding a few accidents along the way, to arrive just in time to make the last train to New York.

On the train, I thought a lot about George and wondered what was it about him that inspired his teammates so deeply. I wondered if my friends would be affected the same way if I had died on the same field as George. Would hundreds ...