Lucky Duck attended the 12th Man event, hosted by Debbie Macomber and The Seattle Seahawks at South Kitsap High School.
Debbie Macomber is a New York Times best selling author who has more than 150 million copies of her books in print, and she is one of the most influential voices in fiction today. And in her spare time, Debbie is changing the world.
Debbie Macomber and the Seahawks inspire
If you live in Port Orchard, you’re definitely dialed in to the fact that Debbie Macomber cares very much about her community and is constantly giving back. It may have been 18 years ago, but I still remember the day when Debbie came in to my 9th grade English class at Cedar Heights Jr. High to inspire us kids and give us all autographed books.
Last night, I joined several hundred fans to watch Debbie Macomber and the Seattle Seahawks speak at South Kitsap High School.
It was such an inspiration and a lot of fun! As I walked in past the signage, I actually recognized my friend’s two cute kids and their grandma, who I hadn’t seen in YEARS. Theron was decked out in his new Seahawks jersey.
The message is spot on
Debbie’s keynote may have been one of the most interesting ones I’ve heard. She shared that she didn’t learn to read until she was 10 years old; however, her first best seller came about when she was in the 8th grade. Her brother and two of her cousins made copies of her diary and sold it to her class!
But the point is that Debbie was a treasure; she just needed someone to help her find the key to unlock it. And this is where the power of the 12th Man comes in. It’s where we all come in. We all need to be each other’s 12th Man and encourage one another to unlock our treasures.
If you couldn’t attend the event, here’s a video of Debbie’s keynote:
Joe Tafoya, Seahawk alum, speaks about his 12th man
Following Debbie’s keynote, we heard from Seahawk Alum Joe Tafoya, who played on the Seattle team that went to the Super Bowl back in 2005. He let me wear his Super Bowl ring and grab a quick photo with him before the event.
And afterwards, he had us in hysterics over his Superman socks with the cape flying off the back!
Joe shared an interesting statistic. .08% of high school athletes make it into the NFL. Ugh, not great odds… but he did it. If you think about it, someone has to be in that .08% – so why shouldn’t it be you? Joe’s inspiration to watch football clips, practice, work hard, and persevere came from his grandfather and dad. His grandfather and his dad are his 12th Man.
Here is a video of Joe’s fabulous words:
Kerry Carter, Seahawk alum, has a lot of great things to say
Kerry told us that he was born on the little island of Trinidad, and then moved out to Toronto, Canada as a teen. His little brother wanted to play football, and his mom made him take his brother to practice and play too! Kerry’s mom was a full time working single mom, and she is his 12th man.
Here’s a video of Kerry telling his story:
Autographs for everyone
I was particularly touched to see Joe, Kerry, Debbie, and her daughter Adele, who helped organize the event, stick around to meet everybody, take pictures, and sign autographs.
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If you missed this one, don’t worry!
From what I understand, this program will extend into next school year and serve as an inspiring theme and message in 2013.
Personally, I think this is outstanding. I was just blogging on Father’s Day about the life changing lessons that my dad gave me. As I was listening to Debbie, Joe, and Kerry, I thought to myself, “Hey! My dad is my 12th Man!” Well, he’s one of them. I’ve been very blessed to have a lot of love, support, and encouragement over the last 33 years.
Like Debbie Macomber on Facebook to make sure that you stay up to date on this incredible program, and all of her new stuff coming out.
And, after you do that –
