(S24) - PT 4 - Trial by Fire

[WildfireMicro]

When Eric Richards had his first college  football game with the Kentucky Wildcats, he had a massive welcome to the league moment when he had a really ugly game in terms of overall stats. He only had 3 tackles and gave up a touchdown in the 4th quarter to Western Kentucky after missing a tackle. He is lucky that the game was already over with Kentucky leading by 28. But it was ugly for himself and he knew he could do a lot better.. He was extremely disappointed in himself but was given a pep talk by head coach Mark Stoops that included the phrase "remember, there is always room for improvement as long as you work hard. Never stop grinding kid or you will never improve. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"

This inspired Eric to work harder then ever before. In the next game against Vanderbilt he ened up with 9 tackles and a forced fumble as the team wins 27-10. In the end this him eventually lead the team in tackles in his sophomore season and to eventually win multiple All-American nods. He constantly thinks about this in practice and on the field as it helps him a lot especially when he made it to the league.