I’ve just finished watching ‘Beckham’, one of the latest documentaries on Netflix about the life of David Beckham and his rise to be one of football’s greatest. What really struck me was the setbacks, mistakes, and failures he encountered on his journey, all the while still considered a football prodigy since his teenage years. He was effectively ‘fired’ from Manchester United in 2003, the club he had been with for more than 10 years. He became a football superstar during his tenure there and was still at the top of his game, however, the manager at the time, Alex Ferguson, didn’t seem to agree with the life he led outside football. Ferguson felt that Beckham had too many distractions that took his focus away from football, yet you could argue there was little evidence it was affecting his performance. Perhaps there were some personality clashes and other conflicts going on as well – who knows?
You would think that people with phenomenal talent such as David Beckham would just soar to the top with ease, barely a bump in the road, on a path that seems to be paved with gold. Yet more often than not, even the greatest do not experience that on their rise to the top. Sure there are periods of smooth sailing, winning streaks and incredible achievements, but its interspersed with colossal failure, catastrophe, and the lowest of the low in someone’s life as was outlined in the David Beckham documentary. It causes me to wonder whether true greatness cannot exist in the absence of setbacks and failure. Another reason not to feel shame for our failures (such as getting fired), but to embrace them as a wonderful part of a life well lived, with richness and greatness.
Indeed, the media and the British public punished Beckham for his failures, and brutally so. They are as guilty as anyone for perpetuating this myth that people are expected to be perfect all the time. It embeds this notion in our psyche that our lives should be perfect, we should be perfect. But not only is that not realistic, it is not the path to greatness or your best life. In the Beckham documentary, what we saw was a person who danced to the beat of his own drum. He lived his life doing what he wanted to do. He made decisions that aligned with his passions and values being football and his family.
After Beckham experienced severe retribution from the British public and media for his mistake during the World Cup match between England and Argentina that resulted in the issue of a red card and Beckham being walked off the field, he still took risks. The kind of risks that might threaten his reputation and make him a laughing stock. Instead of viewing the terrible experience as a reason not to risk more mistakes, he was not afraid and continued to walk into risk. I’m referring here to Beckham’s decision to go and play for the LA Galaxy football team in the United States. Football in the United States at that time was nowhere near even in the same league as Europe. As the Beckham documentary points out, he was playing alongside novices earning less than $20K a year. Beckham was a great player, but was he going to be good enough to make an impact on a team which was well below his level? And even if he could, American football might still never be taken seriously by anyone. As it turns out, the risk paid off and the venture was a success for Beckham. Another thing that Beckham could add to his legacy, that is taking the football movement forward in America in a way that nobody else could. He brought talent to the game, lifted the standards, and brought star power. There are numerous great footballers in Europe but who can lay claim to impacting another country in that way? All because Beckham was not afraid of failure, and was willing to stay true to himself over the opinions of others.
As the Beckham documentary outlines well, David Beckham, this world-class footballer, still had a career peppered with failings, firings and low points. Just like most of us.
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