As I was flicking through Netflix last week a movie caught my eye. I love sports movies so this one got my attention. The movie was “My All American.” It is about Freddie Steinmark, a football player that played for the University of Texas in the late 1960’s. The movie shows his life and how he worked incredibly hard to get a scholarship to play football in college because his parents didn’t have money to pay for it. Freddie was below average sized being 5’9” and 155 lbs. That is pretty small for a Division 1 college football player. After having a standout high school football career he had no offers to play college football except one, after Coach Darrell Royal saw game film of him play. Coach Royal didn’t care about the size of players but the effort they put forward every day. Freddie gave his all day in and day out and actually became the starting safety his sophomore year which is unheard of in Texas football. He led his team to a National Championship in the “Game of the Century” against the Arkansas Razorbacks his junior year. For a while during the season his left knee had been bothering him and after the game he went and got x-rays. The x-rays showed a tumor in his left knee and had to immediately have his leg amputated. Freddie passed away a year and half later losing his battle to cancer. However during his time he showed great leadership traits and skills.
Kirkpatrick and Locke identified 6 traits about leaders and they are, drive, desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and knowledge of the business (PSU WC, 2016). Steinmark showed all of these traits on the football field and his normal life. His drive to not only make himself a better football player but the team as a whole was remarkable. His drive was so great that the doctors had no clue how he able to walk on his leg nevermind play college football. He wanted to be there for his team no matter the cost. In the movie the back-up quarterback at the time James Street said I can see you and me leading this team, you the defense and me the offense. Freddie just shook him off because he was excited to just be a part of the team. Little time went by and Freddie was named starting safety. In the first game of the season Street got his chance at quarterback and took over the position. Freddie took on his role as leader of the defense, because he studied every team and knew the ins and outs of what each offense was going to do against them. Freddie was a very honest person and had a lot of integrity. He was raised Catholic and went to mass every day. Treating everyone with respect was a main focus in his life. Freddie did not lack in self-confidence, he knew that he was a great football player he just needed the chance to prove it. Freddie was a 4.0 student athlete and gave 100% in everything he did. He was always trying to mentally improve his game in order to help lead the defense in the challenges they faced against opponents.
Freddie seemed to be a very authentic leader. He lived his life being a great example for those around him. He met the interpersonal standards which is the relationship between the follower and leader (PSU WC, 2016). Freddie had strong relationships with his teammates because he held himself more accountable than they did. He did not expect anyone to do anything that he would not be able to do himself. He also had an intrapersonal quality which is what is going on in the leaders own head (PSU WC, 2016). Freddie was always himself in every situation, he held true to his nature of his goals and values. The last definition about authentic leadership is developmental, which means a person’s life events that changes their comfort zone brings forth the authentic leadership abilities (PSU WC, 2016). Only 3 weeks after having his leg amputated due to the cancer he wanted to be with his football team and lead them onto the field for the Cotton Bowl. He could have given up and felt sorry for himself but he did not do that. He showed up in the locker room without telling anyone to surprise them. He meant so much to the team that the whole room was filled with tears to see him be there for them. He knew he was part of something bigger than himself. He led the team onto the field and they won the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame for him.
Throughout the movie it was obvious that Freddie had a lot of leadership traits and skills. It seemed to come naturally to him. I definitely recommend watching the movie even though I ruined the whole thing for you once you read this. I really enjoy learning about different leaders in life. Before the movie I had never heard of Freddie Steinmark but I am glad I learned about him and the person he was. To this day the Texas Longhorns have a memorial of him that they pass by before every game because of the leader he was and who they should strive to be like.
References
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2016). PSYCH 485 Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved August 2, 2016 from
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su16/psych485/002/content/02_lesson/03_page.html
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2016). PSYCH 485 Lesson 12: Authentic Leadership. Retrieved August 2, 2016 from
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su16/psych485/002/content/12_lesson/03_page.html
jjo5099 says
Hello Benjamin,
First of it was nice reading your review of the movie as I also love sports movies specially football movies. They remind me of my days playing high school football which was a great time of my life. I have never seen the movie you describe but seemed like another great football movie in which the main character defies obstacles, and a great example to identify leadership traits. Kirkpatrick and
You covered the six traits describe by Kirkpatrick and Locke: drive, desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and knowledge of the business. You provided an example of each one of them. This allowed me to understand his character and I was able to see him as the leader you describe. You also did a great job in describing Freddie as an authentic leader, as you explain his decision making in difficult situations. Do you believe his position had a major role in his leadership influence? By this I mean, the quarterback is usually seen as the leader of the team, the one that guides the team and leads the team to score and ultimately win. Do you believe Freddie would have been an authentic leader if he had played a different position? For example, a center or safety aren’t always able to participate much in game and therefore are able to lead. As an authentic leader they would still be able to motivate and genuinely influence others. I will watch the movie and judge for myself,
Thank you for the post, and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.