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Decisions are key, says former Colts and Packers player Muir

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“The decisions you make today, will affect you tomorrow.” This is the phrase No. 97 Daniel Muir, current Oakland Raiders defensive tackle and former Indianapolis Colts player, says he has held on to throughout his career.

Sometimes, he has had to learn the hard way, Muir admitted in a recent interview with the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper.

“I had been playing football for 23 weeks straight and I knew I could either go home and get some rest or go to the bar and hang out with some ladies,” said Muir, 31. “One bad decision led to another. One drink turned into two and two turned into three. Now, I’ve made four bad decisions.”

Muir said while he was at the bar, someone slipped a drug into his drink. Driving home, which he refers to as his “fifth bad decision,” he got into an accident with a semi-truck after falling asleep at the wheel.

“I talked to the police officer on the scene a few days later and he said ‘I know you have a purpose for your life because when I walked up to your truck, I parked away because I saw leaking fluid and I knew it could blow up at any second and I found your battery 260 feet from your truck,’” said Muir.

The general manager then released him from the Green Bay Packers team because they couldn’t trust his decision making, he said.

“One bad decision turned into several bad decisions and I lost everything I had worked for.”

Recently the Washington D.C. native visited Crispus Attucks High School to share his story with students and emphasize the importance of making positive lifelong decisions. He shared his story of growing up with Jamaican roots with seven brothers and sisters, along with his journey to a long football career.

After Muir’s accident, he was later signed with the Indianapolis Colts, but said his path to the life of a professional athlete was earned the hard way.

He played Little League through middle school, but said he was never put in the games.

“As a freshman I went out for junior varsity football, but they still never put me in the game,” he said. “The last game of the season my coach put me in and I was excited.”

After being told he was just “not an athlete” and shouldn’t pursue the game any longer by a coach, he went to work.

“I spent my whole summer practicing football until August 14 when everyone reports back. You can make the right choice,” Muir stated to the auditorium full of students. “How do you know the choices you make today will affect you for life? But, it’s the truth. It’s not a game.”

During his freshman year of high school, he admitted he made some bad choices such as skipping class but soon made the decision to transfer to Parkdale High School where he was encouraged to play football.

Muir was heavily influenced by his high school football head coach and another man he called Kernel Thompson.

In his new school Muir continued to skip class in an attempt to impress his classmates.

“At the end of the hallway I saw my head coach and took off running but as I got to the bottom of the back stairwell I ran into Kernel Thompson. He was a man of very few words, but when you saw him, you straightened up,” commented Muir.

Thompson then demanded Muir do pushups through three lunch periods while his classmates watched and laughed.

“I got big headed and learned quickly that if I wanted to go to college, I needed to shape up,” he said.

Scouted his senior year by Ohio State University, schools in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and others, Muir complied multiple trash bags full of offer letters and said from then on he referred to himself as a “jock.”

“But just as fast as the coaches were walking in the door, they were walking out because they knew I could play but they wanted to see my grades.”

Several schools lost interest, except Kent State University in Ohio where he would later attend.

In college Muir stayed focused for about half a semester but then was tempted by drugs and alcohol, all while he was telling his mother he was “doing great.”

Since his head coach saw the potential Muir had to go to the NFL, he encouraged him academically and Muir began to excel, he said. By his senior year he spotted the Indianapolis Colts, the Washington Redskins, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Baltimore Ravens all coming to see him practice.

Soon, he had an offer from the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts but decided the Packers were the team for him.

“The entire training camp I worked hard, but I knew they had to trim the roster down from 80 to 53. On cut day you don’t want to get a call because you know you’ve been let go, but I didn’t get a call. I called my mom on the phone crying because I made the roster,” commented Muir.

All of his success came crashing down the moment he began making bad decisions, which then led to his vehicle accident. He encouraged students to take a close look at the decisions they are making today and figure out if they line up with their overall goals in life.

“We all know if you make good decisions, success follows. But if you don’t harness success,” he said. “It can destroy you quick.”

After speaking to the large group of students, Muir met with a few of the school’s young men to speak about life goals, the future and making good decisions.

Tyrelle Collins, behavioral specialist at Crispus Attucks said the school principal received an email about bringing Muir to the school and she asked if I would be interested.

“I thought this would especially be good because it is the end of the school year and the students needed to hear this. His story was perfect for them,” said Collins.

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