Graduation Address

"Encaenia Address, Ceremony A." (28 May 2008). (UA Case 67)

Thirty-seven years ago I received my B.P.Ed. degree from Dr. John Meagher and I imagine he is as shocked as everybody else who knew me back then to see Tony Proudfoot up on this stage accepting a honorary doctorate.

My best friend and classmate Tom Peters, and all my other friends and classmates, would agree, that my 1971 bachelor's degree was, in fact, probably an honorary degree.

Thank you, John and the University of New Brunswick for today's honor! I have had a couple of months to consider the significance of this honor and it has allowed me to reflect on the past 37 years, the time since graduation.

First and foremost I am proud that I have been happily married for 30 years to my wife and soul mate Vicki, and together we have raised three wonderful children who are here today celebrating with us.

Without sounding too much like a cliché they are in fact the three ''things'' that I am most proud of but I will have to temper it somewhat and acknowledge that Vicki gets most of the credit for how wonderful they have become.

Another accomplishment that I am proud of is that I have had the chance to drink from the Grey Cup a number of times in my 12-year professional football career. For everyone lucky enough to compete in sport, I hope you acknowledge that there is hardly ever a better feeling than winning your last game of the season, a sentiment many of you in the audience can hopefully relate to.

A second professional accomplishment comes from the fact that I have had the great opportunity, as many of you in the audience today will have, to work in the field of education with thousands of students, the names and faces often re-appearing in my current life. When you start out, you hope to be able to make a difference. I can assure the hopefuls in the audience that if you come to the profession with a sense of passion you will be richly rewarded. For me that sense of accomplishment has been a warm and fuzzy feeling in the months since my retirement.

I have worked in the field of physical education / kinesiology / exercise science / athletics / and outdoor pursuits at Beaconsfield High School, Dawson College, Concordia University and McGill University, and overall I have loved every single opportunity.

Another recent accomplishment was the publication of my first book titled: First and Goal; The CFL and the Pursuit of Excellence. This book was a labor of love in that I wanted to see if the things I thought were important when I played were still as critical as ever in today's game of football. l interviewed fifty star players and coaches from every CFL team and I am happy to report every one of them felt the same way I as I did about the pursuit of excellence. Listen well students as the very same attributes that apply to achieving excellence in sport apply directly to any pursuit. A short list would include a strong work ethic, the belief that you can always improve, a deep level of knowledge of the game and a true sense of teamwork. Interestingly all the players downplayed the importance of athletic ability, even at the professional level of play.

Overall I have had the lucky opportunity to work, study and play alongside some fantastic individuals, most of which had the unknowing result of furthering my education.

Many of them, by the way are graduates of physical education at UNB some of whom are in the audience today.

Today, at 58 I’m alive and inquisitive as l ever have been, ready to meet the next challenge, opportunity or quest, and that is in part due the diagnosis I received last May 4. A little over one year ago I was told that I have the fatal neuromuscular disease ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Lou Gehrig was one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and when announcing that he had ALS made the strange pronouncement: “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”.

Lucky? It's a bit of a stretch for most people to believe considering there is no known cause, treatment or cure for this disease and everyone dies, usually within four years.

You know that saying: The glass is either half empty or half full. That saying is usually brought up when someone is confronted with a dilemma. Lou Gehrig thought of the glass being half full, taking the opportunity to embrace the first 35 years of his life rather than dwell on his depressing future.

If you believe the glass is half full you will always be looking for the next opportunity. In every situation, in your personal or professional life there is always an opportunity. Even with something as awful as ALS I have found a way to look on my diagnosis as an opportunity.

When you know your future, and it has a specific and relatively short time-frame, this ''opportunity'' forced me to re-focus, re-prioritize.

I could no longer put off until later doing the things I felt were important, the things I planned to get to when I retired.

Over the last year even with my voice, swallowing and breathing failing I have had one of the highlight years of my life. I have done a better job of re-connecting with my friends and family, I make more of an effort to be proactive with the things I believe in, I am more enthusiastic in whatever I am doing and l am much more appreciative of the kindness of the human race in general. I should have figured this out a long time ago but sometimes you need to get kicked in the head to wake up out of your complacency.

Therefore, that is my only goal today, my message to you. Be passionate about something and keep an open mind in every situation, recognizing the opportunity presented to you.

I wish you all the best in the future. Count yourself lucky for the opportunity you have at hand. Make the best of it all.

For those of you interested in making donations (tax receipt) to fund research in ALS please do so at the following address: www.Sla-quebec.ca (Tony Proudfoot Fund).