Use It Right

Nobody is going to tell you that what happened was okay. It was not okay. A cheap shot is a cheap shot and everyone in this room saw it.

And the anger you are feeling right now is not wrong. It is actually right. When someone you play alongside gets hurt because another player decided the rules did not apply to them, anger is the correct response. The question is not whether to feel it. The question is what you do with it.

Because right now you have a choice about what kind of team you are going to be. And the choice you make in the next few days is going to say something about your character that a hundred winning plays never could.

Read both passages slowly — both deserve a breath after them.

And then this one:

Let those sit for a second before you move.

Paul does not tell us not to be angry. He tells us not to sin in our anger. That is an important distinction. He is not asking you to pretend the cheap shot did not happen or that you should not feel what you feel. He is telling you that anger has a shelf life, and what you do with it before it expires is what defines you.

There are two things anger can become. It can become fuel or it can become fire. Fuel is controlled. It powers something. Fire with nothing to contain it destroys whatever is closest, including your own team.

Revenge is fire. It feels like justice but it is not. Revenge is about making the other team feel what you feel. It gets people ejected, it draws penalties, it hands your opponent momentum, and it dishonors your teammate who is sitting out right now. The player who is hurt does not need you to avenge them. They need you to win.

Intensity is fuel. Intensity says: we are going to play every possession like it matters because our teammate cannot play and we are not going to waste that. Intensity is locked in. It does not get baited. It does not take the bait when the other team tries to get in your head because they know what they did and they are hoping you will react.

The hardest thing about playing with intensity after a cheap shot is that the other team is going to try to get you to cross the line. They will talk. They will lean in on the next play. They know that the most dangerous thing you can do is stay locked in, so they are going to try to make you lose it. Every time you do not react, you are winning something they cannot take away.

Paul says do not give the devil a foothold. A foothold is a small purchase. It is not a full grip yet. It is just enough to start pulling. Every time you retaliate, every time you take the bait, you are handing the enemy a foothold in this game and in this locker room. The way you protect this team right now is by not letting the anger that is completely justified become the thing that costs you.

Use it. Just use it right.

This question is personal and should be answered individually, not in a group. Give players a moment to sit with it before you close.