Jim Johnson: Chuck Pagano already a champion

Cliff December 24, 2012 0

By JIM JOHNSON
ISL Correspondent

There’s something about Chuck Pagano that makes him special.

It isn’t that he’s a football coach in the most popular league in the world. It isn’t that he was cancer-stricken and able to overcome the illness.

It’s about the way he lives, his thought process and the attitude he has from day-to-day that makes him special and has led him to become a coach at the highest level and beat an illness that has taken the lives of many.

On Christmas Eve, Pagano spoke the media and a crowd that filled a large room inside the Colts Complex. He talked about getting a letter from a 9-year old boy who had overcome leukemia when he was diagnosed three years prior.

He was smart enough to tell me, ˜Coach, you can beat this, but your attitude has to be really good,’ Pagano recalled the letter saying. ‘You have to be really kind to your nurses, I know you’re not going to feel good, but be very nice to them. Make sure you chew on ice, Coach, when you’re taking chemo so that you don’t get the sores in your mouth. I prefer strawberry popsicles; you might want to try those.’

Pagano raised the life equivalent of the Lombardi Trophy on Monday. He conquered one of the toughest obstacles he will ever face. And he did it with grace and class and dignity. How many of us would have the type of attitude Pagano has continued to have if we were in his shoes? How many of us would work up the energy to continue fighting a disease, while at the same time continuing to lead a team from the other end of a cell phone?

I believe the qualities that Pagano has shown since being diagnosed in September give him a chance to win a Super Bowl someday, whether it is with the Indianapolis Colts or another team in the NFL. It takes a special kind of person to be able to lead the task, and he clearly is one.

Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy once said, Success is uncommon and not to be enjoyed by the common man. I’m looking for uncommon people because we want to be successful, not average. The way Pagano looks at life is not common. The way he looks at life is in a very detailed and philosophical way – something that the common man doesn’t do. He talks about vision, a frame of mind and a certain kind of attitude that many of us don’t have.

You just keep the right frame of mind and stay positive and know that you can win, Pagano said Monday when talking about fighting cancer. If you battle and you have that mindset, you can overcome.

Those same words can be transferred into the way that he coaches a team as well – having a positive state of mind, overcoming obstacles and adversity. Those are lessons that Pagano has taught that the rest of us can learn from in how to deal with life on a day-to-day basis.

Pagano has had just one major victory in his young head coaching career. The next one is winning a Super Bowl, and because he’s already proven he has the right mindset to overcome anything, I believe the day when he lifts the real Lombardi Trophy with a group of football players will come.