Ryan Nece is an NFL player everyone should know, but yet he still labors in relative obscurity. He was a walk-on at UCLA, who became a valuable member of a highly-ranked UCLA team (back when Pete Carroll was best known as an out-of-work NFL coach.) Undrafted out of college, Ryan signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is now entering his 8th NFL season.
When it came out, we received plenty of kudos. The only drawback, more than few friends pointed out, was that I did not have a "big name" professional athlete writing the book's foreword. Many said, "Ryan who?" I would get slightly defensive, but for very good reason. Ryan Nece is one of the most extraordinary people I know. He's not only a close friend and confidant, but someone who has profoundly impacted my views on sports, business and life.
Look no further than Sports Illustrated, which featured Ryan Nece in its Point After column. SI's Phil Taylor writes:
"When a pro athlete is carrying that kind of wad [$4,000], there are a few obvious guesses as to where the evening will lead—to a Vegas blackjack table, perhaps, or a nightclub VIP room with bubbly and bimbos. But the 30-year-old Nece had other plans. He stuffed 70 envelopes with $55 each (55 was his jersey number with Detroit last season) and distributed them among the surprised friends and associates he had invited to the restaurant. The money wasn't the gift; the instructions that accompanied it were. Use this cash to help someone, he told them, and encourage those you help to do something kind in turn. Make the gifts multiply. Watch goodness grow."
We'd all benefit from less talk, more action. Thanks, Ryan, for showing that even relatively small amounts of money can speak volumes.
--Marc Isenberg