MADISON, Ala. -- Life is not all about football. That's the lesson the Madison Academy football team is taught everyday before practice.
Madison Academy is two wins away from the school's first state championship.
“Today's chapter, ‘Respect for Others and Yourself’,” head coach Dr. Eric Cohu reads.
But before they begin game planning, Cohu reads pages of inspiration to his team, from the book "Playbook for an Uncommon Life", by Super Bowl winning coach, Tony Dungy.
“I wasn't sure what he was trying to do with it,” Mustangs linebacker Marcus Sease said. “But as the season went on, I realize he was trying to teach us life lessons and it wasn't about winning, but about becoming a better person.”
This book, like Madison Academy's season, has been a page turner. The Mustangs started the season 0-2, but since the book has been introduced, the Mustangs have won 11 straight games.
“It was kind of weird,” Mustangs quarterback Hunter Olive said. “But once we got into the book it started to make more sense. Everybody started to enjoy it.”
Cohu reads on, “The title for this whole section is "choosing influence over image". We kind of got it backwards, and Dungy understands that. It's not about image, it’s about actually influencing other people.”
“In the middle of the season, we started getting a lot of wins,” Mustangs running back Kyle Jackson said. “We had to stay focused instead of letting our self-esteem go up too much.”
Now, the Mustangs are writing their own "uncommon” path; one that sees them as better people and state champs.
