Six-Time Pro Bowl Legend Karl Mecklenburg Unmasks the Heart of the Student Athlete

Karl Mecklenburg’s story embodies the same level of commitment we instill in our students.

As a virtually unknown college football player, picked 310th in the NFL draft, Mecklenburg overcame the odds and had an outstanding 12-year NFL career.

His impressive career included three Super bowls and six pro bowl appearances. he is an inductee to the Colorado Sports hall of Fame and The Denver broncos Ring of Fame.

As a virtually unknown college football player, Karl Mecklenberg began his pro-football career as the 310th pick in the National Football League draft. But he didn’t stay an unknown for very long in his impressive twelve-year NFL career. With three Super Bowls and six Pro Bowl appearances to his credit, he found himself at loose ends after retirement from the Denver Broncos. By applying the same skills he learned in his athletic career, the very ones we teach to our students every day and practice ourselves, Mecklenburg reinvented himself with a new career as a motivational speaker. His book, Heart of a Student Athlete, All Pro Advice for Competitors and Their Families, details the lessons he learned and used to achieve noted success as a pro athlete.

Mecklenburg Sees Similarities between National Football League and Martial Arts

“My passion for the longest time was to be the greatest football player that ever played. Obviously, I can’t do that anymore, so I’ve become a motivational speaker and author. My desire is to inspire long-term positive change in teens and individuals,” said Mecklenburg, author of Heart of a Student Athlete, All Pro Advice for Competitors and Their Families.

He is often asked, “How can my child be successful?” This inspired him to write a clear, concise explanation of his universal keys to success. These keys include teamwork, courage, dedication, desire, honesty, forgiveness and goal setting, all of the same qualities we work to teach the students in our schools.

“These principles apply equally to a four-year-old White Belt trying to accomplish push-up and sit-up goals, a Black Belt more concerned about his next competition, a school business owner or a mother with kids in your class,” said Mecklenburg. “Whenever these principles are applied throughout anyone’s life, the results are positive growth.”

Mecklenburg believes that it’s difficult for many people who have succeeded in one part of their lives to humble themselves to focus on a new goal, which requires them to start from the beginning, applying these principles again, and listening to and learning from mentors.

“Honestly, I experienced this challenge because, as a pro football player, the team scheduled my professional time, telling me where to be, when, what to eat, how much practice time, etc. Of course, that control of my professional life affected my private life, too,” explained Mecklenburg.

“Suddenly, my career reached its end, and I had no detailed schedule to follow. I struggled, and was lost for six or seven months, but it occurred to me that I had been in this situation when I started my playing career. I decided that I had to start again and learn the talents necessary to accomplish new goals.”

Mecklenburg thinks this is often a challenge for martial arts school owners, and applying the same principles they used to become successful martial artists/athletes helps them become successful business owners.

What he has discovered as an author and speaker is that people without organized-athletic experience don’t understand these concepts easily; however, he thinks martial artists with their long-term athletic experience have a big advantage over most people, especially those in the business world. From his perspective, martial artists have reached a high level of dedication and understand how to work on a team. They have the internal drive to have already accomplished so many professional and personal goals.

“Those ingredients already exist in the life of a martial artist, so my advice is to use them in your business, and you’ll have a greater-than-average probability to succeed in the business world too,” Mecklenburg said.

He thinks that many people relinquish too much control, not realizing that everyone has more talent than he or she can use in a lifetime. People must discover their passions and mission, and then use their free will to fulfill their missions. Relying too much on talent, as the secret ingredient to success, is a topic that Mecklenburg understands thoroughly.
 
The Importance of Hard Work to Success “I was the 310th pick of the draft, based on quantifiable attributes: my height and weight, my 40-yard dash time, how high I could jump, etc., but success is so much more than talent. Success is your desire and willingness to persevere. Success is overcoming obstacles on the way to your dreams. If perseverance isn’t part of your character, then you won’t have opportunities to be successful.”

For Mecklenburg, talent is a secondary attribute—and it may limit your athletic success—but if you prepare and learn how to anticipate trends, opportunities and pitfalls, then you’ll begin to trust yourself and have the courage to be decisive.

“I was limited on the football field, based on statistics, because I was a bit slower than the average NFL linebacker. I ran a 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds, while the average was 4.6 or 4.7,” said Mecklenburg. “I found that if I took the first step in the right direction before anyone else, then all of the angles changed in my favor.

“As a business owner, you can improve your lack of business acumen by looking forward, to anticipate future opportunities, and then prepare for them. When you apply these concepts to your business and life, you won’t be relying on pure talent because talent is definitely overrated,” advises Mecklenburg. Stephen Oliver agreed with the former NFL star and explained that many martial arts school owners look at those identified as successful in the industry and think that they were born with a special magical gift of gab or sales and marketing skills.

“They fail to realize how often we have fallen on our faces or how near to bankruptcy we were (or actually went bankrupt) and how many obstacles were in the way of our success,” said Oliver. “I appreciate how hard you had to work to become the champion you are.”

Mecklenburg responded, “I don’t know anyone who is truly successful or has reached his or her potential that hasn’t failed. Failure is a part of success. That is how people learn. They learn from their failures and hopefully from others’ failures.”

According to Mecklenburg, employees that he addressed at Coca-Cola recently were concerned about changes to their internal structure. He reminded them that negative information is every bit, or maybe even more, important
than positive information.

“As a football player, I could always learn more from a loss than a win. The and character development.” Mecklenburg continued by saying that, through his book, he tries to expose young people to the truth that even someone that is revered as he is in Colorado had all kinds of challenges to overcome, and he did so because he had a passion. “That was very important to me. I had determined early in life that I wanted to be a great athlete and be as good as I possibly could at high school, college or pro football; whatever level I was able to accomplish,” Mecklenburg said.

According to Mecklenburg, parents have a role too, but they don’t often understand that the desire and passion must come from the child. The parents’ role is to provide the opportunities for their children to try many different activities, including martial arts, music, theatre and other athletics, so children can discover their interests. Parents must then support their children and help them fulfill their missions.

Mecklenburg said, “I’m sure NAPMA members and most school owners have had children who become students, and come to classes for a time and work to develop some confidence, self-esteem and various skills; but eventually they realize that martial arts is not where their passions lie, so they drop out.”

He added that the students who are successful, Black Belts and of higher ranks, recognize that martial arts is their passion, their mission. Their parents have supported them, by driving them to and from classes and tournaments. “Those are the sacrifices that parents make, but the dreams, the passions and the missions are the children’s; and those that succeed clearly have that passion,” Mecklenburg added.

From his perspective, martial artists have reached a high
level of dedication and understand how to work on a team.
They have the internal drive to have already accomplished
so many professional and personal goals.

Mecklenburg also focused on the concept of motivation and the similarities and differences that he experienced as a pro football player and high school football coach, and how that applies to the role of martial arts instructors.

“I was motivated throughout my football career by the reality that if I didn’t play well, then another player was ready and eager to take my job. The high school football players I coached at a small school in Colorado needed a different kind of motivation, however,” Mecklenburg explained. “We had so few kids on the team that it was unlikely any player would be replaced by someone further down the roster.”

According to Mecklenburg, becoming responsible for their teammates, being accountable to the school and each other, is what motivated his players. Pride in the school and one’s contribution to the team became the driving forces. This is much the same challenge that school owners and instructors face, but it’s to your advantage to develop a similar source of motivation for your students that is real and drives them to continue their training.

“Many martial arts students probably have stories similar to mine,” said Mecklenburg. “I was a pre-medicine student. I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps, so if I didn’t make it as a pro football player, then I was going to medical school. Just like most martial arts students, I wasn’t playing for my life; I was playing because I loved the game, just as they love martial arts.”

Based on his experience, Mecklenburg believes community is one of the elements of leadership, and manifests itself first as the community of your school: your students and their parents and families and your staff. Community becomes a success driver when you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your students and staff, and you use the strengths of your team to cover for individual shortcomings and the strengths of individuals to elevate the quality and productivity of your team.

Oliver commented, “I think so many NAPMA members and school owners, in general, are afraid that if they start to develop their businesses and they generate much more revenue and personal wealth, they are giving less to their students or are less effective as teachers. They have that artist’s mentality that they shouldn’t be in it for the money.”

Mecklenburg responded by defining success as the opportunity “to reach the greatest number of people and have a much greater impact on their lives.”

“I could stay in my office and give phone interviews all day, but that only has a minimal effect on others. When I speak in front of large groups of people and write and publish a book, suddenly, I am impacting the greatest number of people I possibly can. That’s the mindset martial arts school owners must develop. To me, it’s all about desire. If your desire is just to make money, then you are on the wrong road. If your desire is to impact the most people in your community and to make a difference in their lives, then making money is an indirect benefit of directly helping people and making your community a better and safer place to live,” Mecklenburg added.

He also said that there is great responsibility when you make money; and many people are unable to be responsible with their wealth. If you can be responsible, however, then you can use money to benefit those in your life. Mecklenburg also emphasized how the NAPMA community parallels the professional sports team community.

“When you can team with other martial arts school owners in NAPMA, your professional association, then you will have the opportunity to grow personally and professionally much more than you could just by yourself,” he stated.