All Topics, Updates
The Genesis of The Growth of a Game
The genesis of The Growth of a Game really started during my first season as an import player in Europe in 2008. I played for a team called the Brussels Bulls, an upstart team in the Belgian Football League. The Bulls were coming off of a winless first season in 2007 and failed to make it through a full schedule before forfeiting their campaign, so they desperately needed someone to stabilize their roster. We didn’t fare much better that following year – my first season with the team – winning just one game, but we made it through the season and started showing some promise toward the end of the year. In the team’s 3rd season, my 2nd, we finished 5-6 and only 9 seconds away from a playoff berth. I left the team after the 2010 season, but by 2011 the Bulls had reached the playoffs for the first time and played in their first national championship game in 2013. The foundation we laid during those early years led to the development of some of the best players in Belgium. This experience struck a passion for me – seeing the development of the sport outside of my home country firsthand.
While I was in Brussels, I began connecting with many teams across Europe. I coached several camps, consulted with upstart teams and leagues, and quite simply soaked up as much as I could about how the sport was developing in each country. It was so fascinating for me to see the different paces at which the sport was growing in various places, not to mention each country’s take on how to develop the sport. When it was time to leave Europe in 2010, I always knew that I’d be back to pursue the growth of the sport here – perhaps a little older, a little wiser, and with some fresh ideas to share with the American football community.
After returning to California I began working for Sports 1 Marketing, a sports marketing firm owned by Warren Moon, the Hall of Fame quarterback. I served as Vice President of Business Development and we worked closely with the NFL, MLB, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the Crescent Moon Foundation, several Fortune 500 companies, and many more. But perhaps the most valuable lessons I learned were from Warren himself. Warren was the first African-American quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but the road to getting there didn’t come easy. Everywhere he went, he faced doubters who said a black man couldn’t play quarterback in the National Football League. He overcame all of that doubt and all of the hate to become one of the best football players that’s ever lived. Most remarkably, he did it all while carrying himself with such grace and self-respect. He’s an impressive man, and it’s because of him that the door opened for guys like Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, Teddy Bridgewater, and more.
I worked for Warren until 2013 when I started my own sports consulting firm (Premier Class Consulting), returning to Brussels to pursue my passion. It was not long after this in 2014 when I came up with the premise for the book– a chronicle of the growth of American football in Europe. The history of the sport fascinated me, but I was always far more interested in the current state and the future of American football in Europe. I chose to place a strong emphasis on these latter two subjects, something that I think will resonate with most of you.
Writing a book is a tremendous task, let alone one as ambitious as this. I’ll discuss this process at further length in the preface of the book, but for now it’ll suffice to say that conducting research for this project is not a linear process. It’s taken the support of many people to get this far and I quite simply couldn’t have done it without them. Since this project was so time consuming and would ultimately require a multi-year commitment on my time (not to mention the time of several others), I wanted to ensure that we had an audience to share the book with upon its release. This is where the premise of The Growth of a Game website came in.
I wanted to create a community of American football advocates and a platform from which to create further public awareness and drive interest to the sport. I spent 6 months working with web developers to design the interface of the website so that it would be engaging, yet simplistic. Throughout this process I wrote several articles in preparation for the launch of the website so that there would be enough content to keep people engaged. The goal for the website, quite simply, was to provide the resources necessary to help people succeed at whatever their ambitions were. I’ve built some expertise in this field and I had a duty to give back to the community that sparked my passion.
We launched the website on November 1st, 2014 and the response was overwhelming. Messages began pouring in from people who were enthusiastic about the project. We started seeing our articles shared all over the internet, teams began using our content for their sponsorship and recruiting campaigns, and more people began contributing to the site as writers, translators, editors, and more. Some of them weren’t even American football fans before they got started, and now they’re invested in our mission to help bring the sport to a larger audience. The support we’ve received from you has been so encouraging and it’s given us further motivation to strive for more.
We now have over 30 contributors for the website from all over the world and we translate articles into 10 different languages. Several of our articles have been viewed over 20,000 times. We’ve reached a passionate audience that has been craving something like this for a long time, and we’re not stopping there. We have many more features that we’ll be bringing to you over the next year, and we have a long-term growth strategy to help maximize the passion that exists for the sport here in Europe. Every day we’re working hard to reward those who have put their heart and soul into this fantastic sport. The only thing that’s been missing until now is the right vision, and we hope you’ll join us as we push the limits of what is possible. With your help, we can shift the dynamic of American football in Europe and show people how this sport can change the lives of so many people for the better.
Thank you to everyone for your incredible support and encouragement through this growth process. It’s because of you that this project thrives and we promise to keep bringing you more.
Keep up the great work and let’s keep pushing forward.
I have recently started a site, the information you provide on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
whoah this weblog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Keep up the great paintings! You understand, a lot of persons are looking round for this information, you could aid them greatly.
I think that is one of the such a lot vital information for me. And i am glad studying your article. However should remark on few general things, The website style is great, the articles is truly great : D. Good job, cheers
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thank you again
My partner and I stumbled over here different page and thought I might as well check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to exploring your web page yet again.
Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “The capacity to care is what gives life its most deepest significance.” by Pablo Casals.
What’s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to give a contribution & aid different customers like its helped me. Great job.
Thanks for any other fantastic article. The place else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal approach of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such info.
Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What an ideal site.
Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa? My blog discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!
I conceive you have remarked some very interesting points, appreciate it for the post.
You really make it appear so easy together with your presentation but I in finding this topic to be actually one thing which I think I would never understand. It sort of feels too complex and extremely large for me. I’m taking a look ahead for your subsequent post, I’ll attempt to get the dangle of it!
I have been surfing online greater than 3 hours lately, but I never found any interesting article like yours. It is lovely price enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content as you did, the web might be much more helpful than ever before.
Hello There. I found your weblog using msn. That is a very smartly written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your helpful information. Thank you for the post. I will definitely return.
I will right away clutch your rss feed as I can’t in finding your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly permit me understand in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Hello my loved one! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all vital infos. I’d like to see extra posts like this .
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
you are really a good webmaster. The web site loading speed is amazing. It seems that you’re doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you have done a fantastic job on this topic!
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be” by Miguel de Cervantes.
You have brought up a very wonderful points, appreciate it for the post.
I like this post, enjoyed this one regards for posting.
I actually wanted to send a quick word so as to say thanks to you for these splendid guidelines you are giving at this website. My prolonged internet look up has at the end been honored with reliable facts and strategies to share with my colleagues. I ‘d believe that many of us readers are definitely blessed to live in a remarkable network with very many lovely individuals with useful tips and hints. I feel pretty grateful to have used your website and look forward to many more cool minutes reading here. Thanks a lot once more for a lot of things.
Thanks , I have recently been looking for info approximately this topic for a long time and yours is the best I have discovered so far. However, what about the conclusion? Are you positive concerning the supply?
I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
I’d must test with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a publish that may make individuals think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
My wife and i have been very lucky when Edward could round up his studies via the precious recommendations he acquired out of your web pages. It’s not at all simplistic to just find yourself making a gift of tactics which often people today could have been selling. And we realize we need the blog owner to thank for this. The main explanations you have made, the simple blog menu, the relationships your site help foster – it is many wonderful, and it’s facilitating our son in addition to the family reason why the issue is pleasurable, and that’s exceptionally essential. Many thanks for everything!
I keep listening to the news update speak about getting free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i get some?
Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
I really enjoy reading on this web site, it contains great articles. “The living is a species of the dead and not a very attractive one.” by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.
I just like the valuable info you supply for your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I’m fairly certain I’ll learn plenty of new stuff proper right here! Good luck for the following!
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
Hello there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Many thanks!
I am so happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the accidental misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.
Great info and straight to the point. I am not sure if this is actually the best place to ask but do you people have any ideea where to get some professional writers? Thanks 🙂
Real wonderful info can be found on web blog. “Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect.” by Theodore Parker.
Some truly nice stuff on this site, I enjoy it.
Just wanna input on few general things, The website pattern is perfect, the articles is rattling great. “War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military.” by Georges Clemenceau.
You made some decent points there. I seemed on the internet for the issue and found most individuals will go together with with your website.
Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
Usually I don’t learn post on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do it! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, quite nice article.
I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
Hello there I am so excited I found your weblog, I really found you by accident, while I was browsing on Askjeeve for something else, Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a fantastic post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to browse it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the awesome work.
I’ve learn a few just right stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you place to create one of these great informative web site.
Hey there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Good web site! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your RSS which must do the trick! Have a great day!
An interesting discussion is value comment. I feel that it is best to write more on this matter, it might not be a taboo subject but typically individuals are not sufficient to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Im now not sure where you’re getting your info, however great topic. I must spend some time studying more or figuring out more. Thank you for wonderful info I was searching for this info for my mission.
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.
Simply wanna remark on few general things, The website style and design is perfect, the subject matter is rattling great. “The sun sets without thy assistance.” by The Talmud.