As I share in my book Raising Giants, hard work pays off. This was a standard that my wife and I tried to impress upon Geoffrey and Mitchell while raising them. There’s no doubt that their respective successes on the gridiron resulted from their commitment to working hard throughout their careers.
I’d like to share another example of the benefits of hard work. This one is also on the personal side. I’ve known Brycen Tremayne since before his high school days. My wife and I got to know his dad, Cuyler, as we enjoyed working with him as his attorney and consultant, respectively.
My first gridiron memory of Brycen took place during his freshman year at Windward High School, located in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles. Cuyler invited me to attend Brycen’s very first football game. Seated in the bleachers, I spotted a scrawny 5’ 7”, 128 lb. Brycen jogging out toward the goal line in anticipation of receiving the opening kickoff. I can’t be absolutely sure, but I believe his knees were shaking in nervous anticipation of the kick soon to be headed his way.
And that’s how it began for Brycen. Based on that initial experience, I doubt anyone could have charted his ultimate path. He remained at Windward until the school returned to 8-man football. Still with the drive to one day play beyond high school, Brycen transferred to Venice High, a much more prominent football program in the L.A. CIF City Section, in the hope that his senior season would land him on the college recruiting radar screen.
It did just that, but in limited fashion. He was heavily recruited by Harvard and Yale after his one season at Venice High, however he wanted more. Stanford and other academically oriented Power 5 schools had shown some interest . . . he was obviously a smart student . . . but weren’t prepared to offer a scholarship. So Brycen faced a challenging decision.
Attend Harvard, where there are no scholarships . . . Grant-in-Aid and other similar financial support available . . . or walk on to Stanford, with no guarantee that he’d ever be granted a scholarship . . . or play! But he bet on himself, believing that his hard work would pay dividends, and walked on at Stanford . . . without a scholarship.
A walk-on is a tough path. Athletes are perceived by many schools and teammates as second class citizens. That didn’t deter Brycen. He continued to work his ass off. As a result, he yoked up to 205 lbs. from the 170 lbs. when he first arrived on The Farm. In short order, earning the trust of his teammates and Head Coach David Shaw, he was offered a scholarship during his sophomore season. He bet on himself and won that bet.
Next? The NFL beckoned. Brycen’s hard work continued to pay off as he found greater playing time in each subsequent season. As a senior he was starting and finding himself featured on ESPN Top 10 highlights for his eye-opening catches. But the journey could have been permanently derailed. I was channel surfing one fall Saturday afternoon, as I’m prone to do, and stumbled upon Stanford playing Oregon. It was Brycen’s senior season. I homed in on Brycen as his route took him across the field. He caught the ball. Took a step or two and was tackled.
The result of that tackle immediately reminded me of one of Geoffrey’s more serious injuries. Brycen’s ankle, like Geoffrey’s toe, was gruesomely pointed in an unnatural direction. There’s never a good time for such an injury but to happen during a senior season with the NFL draft months away might have been the worst possible timing.
But as Brycen has demonstrated throughout his football journey, this too wasn’t going to disrupt his goals. He worked for months to rehab. When all was said and done, Brycen’s resilience placed him in a position to be drafted, as he was actually faster and stronger after recovery than before.
A 5’ 7” high school freshman had grown into a 6’4”, 210-pound stud. In my opinion, as I shared in Raising Giants, draft opportunities ebb and flow with one’s health during a senior season. Brycen wasn’t drafted. Instead, he signed a free agent contract with the Washington Commanders. For the better part of two seasons, he found himself on the practice squad, seeing limited action for two years.
Again, betting on himself, his agents found a new home for Brycen this season. He’s now on the active roster as a significant contributor for the Carolina Panthers. The third game of the season found him being targeted five times, resulting in three catches, including a big-time 4th down snag that contributed to a come from behind victory for Carolina. His catches have been highlighted all over social media. After four weeks he has the 2nd most yards for a wide receiver on the Panthers.
Brycen has NEVER allowed himself to dwell on what can’t be. Instead, he’s labored through thick and thin to overcome the doubters and the challenges he’s faced to realize his dream. No one can ever take away the fact that he’s a professional football player. And he will forever be a shining example of how hard work does pay off.