Getting a Seat at the Table
I tried to lower my head. Pull my hat down over my face. Quickly wiping away this substance coming from my face. Hoping no one around me would see. See the tears falling off my chin onto my shirt. After all, I wasn’t wearing a Patriots or Seahawks uniform so the excuse of having passion for my team couldn’t even be used. Yeah, John Legend just sang “America the Beautiful” and Elsa (Idina Menzel) the national anthem, but even the love for my country wasn’t the reason for these tears. I just couldn’t believe it… I pinched myself. I even had the couple behind us (Jason and I) take a picture, as I was sure I would wake up in a moment and none of this would be true. I was at a Super Bowl. Not just any Super Bowl mind you because anyone with enough money or the right timing can buy a ticket. I was there with Logo Chair. We were there. I was at the Super Bowl sitting in Logo Chair seats as a licensee (I could write a separate blog on the journey to even become an NFL licensee – Trust me it is hard).
This seems silly to you, I know.... You are probably like “Dude, what’s the deal? You are at the game, have fun and quit crying…” But you don’t understand. This wasn’t a seat at the game. This wasn’t just checking off a sports bucket list item. This was Logo Chair finally sitting at the table. This is 15 years of work. This is a BHAG (see a previous blog) come true. This was the biggest of big deals. This was an answered prayer. This was my “super bowl”. This was the end of what “couldn’t be done” and the beginning of so many more “to comes”…
These were tears of victory. Tears of accomplishment. A moment of when all the times you said “I WONT GIVE UP” actually working… Then I looked over at my friend Jason and in that moment I realized he didn’t fully understand the gift he was part of (really responsible for) giving me. I wanted to tell him, but it wasn’t the time. He knew I was feeling something because he put his arm around me and said, “You deserve this!”
It was the biggest game of the year. Like you said earlier, “Dude, you are the Super Bowl.” So I wiped away my tears. I smiled. I basked. I savored. I relished. Then, I sent Jason a text. In several short sentences I communicated more than any bonus, paycheck, perk given, could communicate, what this one moment meant to me as a person and a businessmen. I told him without him this wasn’t possible. “Job well done” isn’t strong enough. What I did communicate was that both of us, me (Logo) as an NFL Licensee and him in this job, had both found HOME. Weird to say it, but in Phoenix, 1000 of miles from our houses Jason and I both knew we had found a permanent home. Logo Chair with the NFL and Jason with Logo Chair.
Our friendship isn’t culminated in a moment or a success story because there are so many more of these in front of us… It was culminated in a text where I was comfortable showing him my heart without fear of judgment or comment, instead a reply that was just as transparent. Am I thankful to be an NFL licensee? Absolutely. However, not near as thankful as I am to work next to Jason. So when asked about the Super Bowl and how did I like it… I just smiled and said I loved it… Every part of it… See you next year in San Francisco.
