Twitter, Monday morning, May 5, 2009
@NFLprguy: msg to college students trying 2 get into sports. @nflcommish Goodell: “I applied to NFL 45 times. I have 44 letters of rejection.” I have 7

Some age old wisdom comes to Twitter: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Commissioner Goodell’s rise to the most prominent and respected position in professional football is a great example of this proverb coming to fruition.

Roger Goodell was chosen to succeed Paul Tagliabue as the Commissioner of the National Football League prior to the 2006 season. Goodell began his career in the NFL as an administrative intern in the league office in New York under Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1982. In 1983, he joined the New York Jets as an intern, but quickly returned to the league office in 1984 as an assistant in the public relations department. In 1987, Goodell was appointed assistant to Lamar Hunt, the president of the American Football Conference. Goodell then joined Tagliabue’s staff in the 1990s where he held a variety of positions until December 2001 when he was named NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer. He stayed in that position until taking over as Commissioner in 2006.

Young sports business professionals should heed the wisdom if NFLprguy’s tweet highlighted above. By simply reading Commissioner Goodell’s biography, one would not know how he was able to land his first internship with the NFL. He wrote letters. He wrote a total of 40 letters, starting with Commissioner Pete Rozelle and including one to every NFL team. Finally, in the summer of 1981, Rozelle instructed NFL Executive Director Don Weiss to interview Goodell. After an interview, and several more letters, Goodell was offered an internship in the NFL league office that began in September of 1982 (courtesy: Sports Business News).

Goodell’s rise to the top should be a lesson to all young sports business professionals. It takes time, effort, determination, patience and luck to make it in the sports industry. Even with all those things, many will fail along the way. Some will leave the industry by their own decision and some will be forced out. Either way, it’s a difficult (but fun) journey to take through life. No one will deny that it’s exciting. As in any profession, it’s a matter of several key life decisions that will forever impact your entire career. That’s the challenge facing young sports business professionals.

It may seem difficult or impossible to figure out. But, if you stop, take a breathe, and think for a second – if Roger Goodell could do it, why can’t I?

It’s certainly a fun road.