A Lesson in Decision Making from Number 28
A year ago, CJ Spiller had the opportunity to set himself up financially for life. All he had to do was say, “Yes” and enter the NFL draft.
But Spiller decided to stay at Clemson for his senior year. Lots of people, including his mother, thought he was crazy. Today newspapers like The State are running stories with titles like “Smart move: Spiller’s draft stock on the rise.” Here’s a key paragraph.
“Today, however, he looks pretty smart. He has a sociology degree because he came back to finish school. But he also has a better career opportunity lined up after a spectacular season has vaulted him up the rankings before April’s NFL draft.”
That’s how it looks today. But if you want to learn something from Spiller’s decision, today doesn’t count. Think about how it looked a year ago.
Laid out logically, at the time, things looked like this. Spiller could enter the draft and become an instant millionaire. Or he could return to Clemson for his senior year, with the risk that those millions might be gone forever if he suffered a career-ending injury.
Why take that risk? You could find the answer if you were at Clemson last December 19. It was graduation day and one of the 1080 graduates was CJ Spiller. He had earned his degree in sociology at one of America’s top public universities and he did it in three and a half years.
After the ceremony among family and friends and members of his local church who had made the day-long drive to Clemson, Spiller cleared up any doubt. “This is the No. 1 reason I came back,” he said.
If you’re facing a big decision, take a lesson from CJ Spiller, Nr. 28. Know what the most important thing to you is and make it the most important part of your decision process.
Today there are all kinds of articles and blogs speculating on where Spiller and others will be chosen on NFL Draft Day. Spiller doesn’t pay attention to them.
“If you get caught up in that stuff,” he says, “It’ll get you off-track.” Staying on track is important, but you have to choose which track is most important.
