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Key Bible Verse: Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Bonus Reading: Luke 14:7-11

My worst day in the NFL came in 1989 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I was playing the game of my life. In fact, I'd already knocked a guy out cold. That was actually a little scary. I didn't care how big the other guy was. I told my teammate Richard Dent, "No one has ever run over me. Never!" It was true, and I was outright prideful about it.

'Toward the end of the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay was behind, but the Buccaneers drove down the field, ready to score and win the game. James Wilder, Tampa's running back, caught a pass from Vinny Testaverde and ran toward the side. He wanted to get out of bounds to stop the clock and give the Bucs enough time to score.

I told myself, Don't let him run out of bounds. When you tackle him, lie on him and let the clock run out.

Instead of running toward Wilder to hit him, I ran up to grab him. I was on my heels when Wilder turned up field and put his head down. Bam! He knocked me flat on my back.

That play gave Tampa Bay the momentum to win. I kept my mouth closed after that embarrassing moment—the only time I was ever run over. The bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

—Mike Singletary in Mike Singletary: One-on-One

My Response: The difference I see between confidence and cockiness is …

Thought to Apply: He who sings his own praise is usually off-key. —source unknown

Adapted from Mike Singletary: One-on-One (Regal, 2005) by permission.

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Shape me, Lord, into a genuine Christ-follower: confident and secure but not self-promoting or arrogant; unassuming but no pushover.

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