Robert Mathis — He Does It

Posted by craigkelleycolts on September 26, 2013 – 3:38 pm

Robert Mathis got one of the last scholarships available at Alabama A&M, yet made it to the NFL.

Mathis is the smallest of his male siblings, yet he has scaled great heights.

With four more sacks, he will become the 30^th NFL player to reach 100 for a career.  He always has proven himself because he’s always been driven.

“I am here by no accident because of the truth of the saying, ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.’  I’m the smallest male in the family,” said Mathis.  “I always was told to fight, but I had it in me anyway.

“You have to fight to exist in every walk of life.  It’s particularly true in my line of work.”

Any fight comes from the existence of a heart, something that Mathis has in abundance.  Part of that heart keeps him in touch with the Alabama A&M, and he has benefited the university in many ways.

Mathis, in turn, is being honored by others.  On Friday, he will be in his native Atlanta as he is inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall-of-Fame.

It, no doubt, will have a special meaning for a man who has made deep footprints everywhere he has been.

Some athletes have quotes that mean something to them.  Some don’t.

Mathis does and carries it to the extent that is it tattooed on his stomach.  Emblazoned on his ripped, 6-2, 246-pound torse is his favorite quote.

“Mine is lengthy, and it’s the poem, ‘It Couldn’t Be Done, by Edgar A. Guest.”

 

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done

But he with a chuckle replied

That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one

Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
 

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;

At least no one has done it;”

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat

And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
 

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure,

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing

That “couldn’t be done,” and you’ll do it.

Tags: Alabama A&M, Edgar A. Guest, indianapolis colts, robert mathis
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