Commentaries

'It takes a team': USAFA grad, former Dallas Cowboy learned leadership, character at Academy

  • Published
  • By Chad Hennings
  • Academy Class of '88
I recently learned that I am the recipient of the 2014 Walter Camp "Alumni Award." It seems like yesterday (actually 26 years ago) that I was being recognized at this same event as an All American defensive lineman from the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Reflecting back upon my experience as a college football player, I am very appreciative of the opportunity and the life lessons that I learned playing football while attending the Air Force Academy.  Of course, the game had its controversy back then, but it seems besieged by more scandals these days.  It feels like every week you read about a top programs dismissing players for one reason or another.  Even the University of North Carolina, one of the great public universities in America, just acknowledged sham courses that spanned 20 years and involved thousands of students, many of them athletes. Every college or university football program, it would seem, has its demons.

My alma mater, the Air Force Academy, is not immune, and neither are the other service academies. Last season, a starting quarterback was removed from the team because he failed to live up to standards. USMA recently admitted to a recruiting incident involving underage drinking and other misconduct. It is tempting to think these lapses happen everywhere, all the time, but it's a handful of players among tens of thousands of student athletes who make the sport look bad.

In America, more than 70,000 athletes play football for 768 colleges each year. The graduation rate for all schools with a football program is around 70 percent. The Air Force Academy actually is the United States top-ranked public institution in graduation success rate for college football, at 93 percent, according to figures released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2013. While football players make up approximately 29 percent of all college athletes, a little more than one percent are drafted into the National Football League, and less than 0.7 percent actually make it on a team. Take away the top 65 schools in the five super conferences, and that equates to more than 700 schools that have players who almost certainly have played their last down of football once they finish college. The reward for most of them - including many of my teammates at the Air Force Academy - was a series of life lessons that fall under the headings of teamwork, dedication, leadership and character.

I played for the Air Force Academy for four years. Our 1985 team saw the greatest year in Falcon history. We went 12-1, were conference co-champions, won the Bluebonnet Bowl and placed fifth in the final coaches' poll. Football at the Air Force Academy was an amazing leadership laboratory. The game gave me a chance to put into practice what I learned in the classroom and in the squadron. I learned to overcome stress and adversity in difficult situations through the ups and downs of a game. Against Notre Dame my sophomore year (1985), we were down in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, they were about to score on us again with a field goal, but we blocked it and ran it back for a touchdown to win. Situations like that, when the game was on the line, helped prepare me for the stress I faced flying jets in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

While at the Academy I learned the "it takes a team" concept, which states that while you may have individual talent, teams need more than individual stars to win games. This applies to raising a family, running a business or winning Super Bowls in professional football. I do not know what my life would be like without the teams I've been apart of along the way, from my high school teammates, to my teammates at the Academy and on the Dallas Cowboys, to my wife at home and my colleagues in business.  Throughout your life, you need your wingmen to help you accomplish nearly anything. You also need to master some important personality traits.

Leadership and character are a few of the traits I consider building blocks for success. I began acquiring these from my family growing up and I was fortunate to  hone them at the Academy while living under the Honor Code: "We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Furthermore, we resolve to live honorably. The Academy gave me the experience and hands-on training to succeed after my service was over and to strive to do the right thing in all situations. While I played football very well, thanks to the help of the coaching staff, my teammates and classmates at the Air Force Academy, it is my attitude, character and leadership that have been essential to my individual and team successes.

I did not just play football at the Academy. There is so much more to the experience and I took advantage of it when I could. The Air Force Academy, as well as the other service academies, offers experiences that are not normally found at other four-year institutions. We learn not only from the classroom, but through life and leadership experiences not typically available at most U.S. colleges.

The core values of the Air Force: Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence In All We Do were present in everything we did at the Academy. I chose to take those core values, and my experience in leadership and character, to the civilian world. I truly believe college football and an Academy education helped mold me into the man I am today. These things are worth remembering amid all the dark headlines.

(Hennings was a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys from 1992-2000)

Commentaries - Articles

'It takes a team': USAFA grad, former Dallas Cowboy learned leadership, character at Academy

  • Published
  • By Chad Hennings
  • Academy Class of '88
I recently learned that I am the recipient of the 2014 Walter Camp "Alumni Award." It seems like yesterday (actually 26 years ago) that I was being recognized at this same event as an All American defensive lineman from the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Reflecting back upon my experience as a college football player, I am very appreciative of the opportunity and the life lessons that I learned playing football while attending the Air Force Academy.  Of course, the game had its controversy back then, but it seems besieged by more scandals these days.  It feels like every week you read about a top programs dismissing players for one reason or another.  Even the University of North Carolina, one of the great public universities in America, just acknowledged sham courses that spanned 20 years and involved thousands of students, many of them athletes. Every college or university football program, it would seem, has its demons.

My alma mater, the Air Force Academy, is not immune, and neither are the other service academies. Last season, a starting quarterback was removed from the team because he failed to live up to standards. USMA recently admitted to a recruiting incident involving underage drinking and other misconduct. It is tempting to think these lapses happen everywhere, all the time, but it's a handful of players among tens of thousands of student athletes who make the sport look bad.

In America, more than 70,000 athletes play football for 768 colleges each year. The graduation rate for all schools with a football program is around 70 percent. The Air Force Academy actually is the United States top-ranked public institution in graduation success rate for college football, at 93 percent, according to figures released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2013. While football players make up approximately 29 percent of all college athletes, a little more than one percent are drafted into the National Football League, and less than 0.7 percent actually make it on a team. Take away the top 65 schools in the five super conferences, and that equates to more than 700 schools that have players who almost certainly have played their last down of football once they finish college. The reward for most of them - including many of my teammates at the Air Force Academy - was a series of life lessons that fall under the headings of teamwork, dedication, leadership and character.

I played for the Air Force Academy for four years. Our 1985 team saw the greatest year in Falcon history. We went 12-1, were conference co-champions, won the Bluebonnet Bowl and placed fifth in the final coaches' poll. Football at the Air Force Academy was an amazing leadership laboratory. The game gave me a chance to put into practice what I learned in the classroom and in the squadron. I learned to overcome stress and adversity in difficult situations through the ups and downs of a game. Against Notre Dame my sophomore year (1985), we were down in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, they were about to score on us again with a field goal, but we blocked it and ran it back for a touchdown to win. Situations like that, when the game was on the line, helped prepare me for the stress I faced flying jets in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

While at the Academy I learned the "it takes a team" concept, which states that while you may have individual talent, teams need more than individual stars to win games. This applies to raising a family, running a business or winning Super Bowls in professional football. I do not know what my life would be like without the teams I've been apart of along the way, from my high school teammates, to my teammates at the Academy and on the Dallas Cowboys, to my wife at home and my colleagues in business.  Throughout your life, you need your wingmen to help you accomplish nearly anything. You also need to master some important personality traits.

Leadership and character are a few of the traits I consider building blocks for success. I began acquiring these from my family growing up and I was fortunate to  hone them at the Academy while living under the Honor Code: "We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Furthermore, we resolve to live honorably. The Academy gave me the experience and hands-on training to succeed after my service was over and to strive to do the right thing in all situations. While I played football very well, thanks to the help of the coaching staff, my teammates and classmates at the Air Force Academy, it is my attitude, character and leadership that have been essential to my individual and team successes.

I did not just play football at the Academy. There is so much more to the experience and I took advantage of it when I could. The Air Force Academy, as well as the other service academies, offers experiences that are not normally found at other four-year institutions. We learn not only from the classroom, but through life and leadership experiences not typically available at most U.S. colleges.

The core values of the Air Force: Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence In All We Do were present in everything we did at the Academy. I chose to take those core values, and my experience in leadership and character, to the civilian world. I truly believe college football and an Academy education helped mold me into the man I am today. These things are worth remembering amid all the dark headlines.

(Hennings was a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys from 1992-2000)