The Stolen Red Bicycle

How “The Greatest” Began His Career

On a rainy evening in Louisville in 1954, a 12-year-old boy in tears approached an officer, Joe Elsby Martin, to file a police report for a stolen red Schwinn bicycle. The officer who ran the local Columbia Gym later recalled that the young boy “Wanted to ‘whup’ whoever it was who stole his bike…I told him before he started talking about whupping somebody, he’d better learn how to fight.”

That conversation became a catalyst for a storied boxing career for the young boy, then known as Cassius Clay, that culminated in being an Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world heavyweight boxing champion. He’s widely considered “The Greatest” heavyweight boxer of all-time. We now know him as Muhammad Ali.

What started as a desire for revenge transformed into an unshakeable drive to be the best. The pain caused by this childhood incident for Ali ignited an internal fire and the rest became history. He used devastation as inspiration. Sometimes pain is what wakes up the champion in all of us.

Lighting a Fire In Your Soul

Detroit Lions’ wide receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown, was drafted in the 4^th round and he was the seventeenth wide receiver selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. To this day, he keeps a notebook filled with his personal goals and the names of all sixteen wide receivers taken before him in his draft class (see video below).

St. Brown uses this list as a daily reminder and external driver to relentlessly pursue greatness and become a better version of himself, year after year. All great performers are driven by something. You don’t necessarily need a chip on your shoulder to be successful, but you do need to be connected to whatever lights a fire in your soul and understand how to harness that drive.

Drive is the force that pushes competitors to pursue their goals with full commitment and, sometimes, one’s drive is born from an unconventional source (e.g. Muhammad Ali’s red bicycle). Drive can originate from doubt, adversity, and pain, which are all unavoidable on the path to excellence. It’s how you use that pain, and the purpose you attach to the pain, that pushes you through.

Purpose transcends pain. If your purpose is big enough, your excuses won’t be.

How to Help Athletes Identify Their “Red Bicycle”

Everyone has their own “red bicycle” moment, experience, or reason that fuels their pursuit of greatness. As coaches, we can help athletes connect with their “why” and distill it down to a simple reminder that’s readily accessible.

Here’s a few questions that you can ask to help athletes uncover their purpose and what drives them:

• What inspires you?

• Who do I truly want to be/become?

• Why do I go through “the suck?”

Based on your athletes’ responses to the previous questions, you might encourage them to craft a simple statement that connects them back to that “red bicycle” and purpose. Here are some potential example statements:

• “I play for my younger self…The kid who dreamed of being in this position.”

• “I persevere through difficult moments for my family who sacrificed to give me this opportunity.”

• “I compete to inspire the next generation.”

A final step is inviting players to create a physical representation or reminder of their purpose statements and/or goals. One example is shown below with Michael Phelps who started writing down his swimming goals around the age of 11.

Final Thoughts: Fueling the Fire

Muhammad Ali’s greatness wasn’t just about talent. It was fueled by a deep, personal drive. His stolen bicycle was the start, but his quest to become the greatest helped him ignite his inner fire. As coaches, our role is to help athletes uncover what fuels them and teach them how to use it as a competitive advantage.

Some people are driven by a chip on their shoulder to overcome doubters. Some people are driven to make someone proud. Some people are driven to shatter their own personal limits and inspire others. It doesn’t matter what fuels you. What matters is finding it and using it.

When drive is harnessed, it shifts potential to greatness.

Inspiration for This Piece:

• https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/michael-phelps-goal-sheet-joe-buck-undeniable-interview