Once you turn pro and you're making the big money and kids are buying your sneakers and your skates and your gloves and so on, you are a member of that role model club.
Interpretation
Achieving professional success also comes with the responsibility of being a role model for others.
In this quote, Bobby Orr emphasizes that once an individual reaches a professional level of success, particularly in sports, they become a role model for younger generations. The significant financial rewards and influence on fans and youth implicate a responsibility to lead by example, showcasing the effect one’s actions can have on aspiring athletes and fans who look up to them.
In practice
A coach can use this quote to inspire young athletes about the responsibilities that come with success.
Growing up, if I hadn't had sports, I don't know where I'd be. God only knows what street corners I'd have been standing on and God only knows what I'd have been doing, but instead I played hockey and went to school and stayed out of trouble.
The biggest thing we get out of it is seeing the kids smile. And hopefully we will also see that the lessons we're teaching - not only the fundamentals of hockey, but also the life values - are sinking in.
Minor sports in the community is fun and recreation for everyone, not just the elite. I think back to my days in minor hockey and those are my fondest memories, having fun.
I've been a very lucky guy. I played on championship teams. I played for Canada. I've won some awards and I'm very proud of those accomplishments. But I don't think there's anything greater than to come home and to be recognized at home. This is the pinnacle.
I was the happiest guy in the world when I was on the ice. You're being paid to play a game! That's pretty special.
If you're going to help somebody, sneak in, sneak out, do what you can. I just sneak along and do my thing and meet wonderful people, some people I've never met, new friends.
Playing the game is a form of winning the game. In those competitions, we win by being resilient.
In my 14 years, catching 200 yards or scoring 3 touchdowns in a game, breaking a record - none of those compared to winning the Super Bowl for the first time.
I copied (Shoeless Joe) Jackson's style because I thought he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen, the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. He's the guy who made me a hitter.
Success has a great tendency to conceal and throw a veil over the evil deeds of men.
Once, a union job at GM or AT&T was a bridge to success. Now, a nonunion Wal-Mart job is a bridge to nowhere.
Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.
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