I’ll go back to being a senior in high school. I was always an OK athlete, pretty good but never great.

When I was a senior in high school I received the “Jesse Owens Unsung Hero” award from my football team. I went to a banquet and was on TV and all that jazz.

I just remember thinking: “even if you’re not the best but you work the hardest you will be successful.”

If I’m not mistaken I received a similar award while I was a row were on the freshman crew team at Santa Clara university. I wasn’t the best oarsman; I was OK but I wasn’t great. But I always worked hard.

I’ve spent my life working hard and playing hard.

My friends sometimes thought I was crazy, but we had a great time. I was fortunate. Scholastically, I didn’t have to work real hard to achieve.

The last thing I’d like to say is this: “family is so important.”

Every four years we have a reunion of the Rooney family and my kids are really into it. My boys travel the country and visit our relatives. There really involved in our family. It’s a critical aspect of our lives but it’s getting so lost.

Our generation was the “me” generation. If we didn’t derive a lot of pleasure from something right off the bat then would forget about it.

But I think we have to look beyond ourselves. We need to look at what we are providing for the people around us.

My mark in life may be that I never achieve anything great. But people know that they can come to me.