Play like a champion today

I have hanging on the wall in my office a black-and-white photo of my dad playing football, on which he wrote the famous phrase: Play like a champion today.

I love the photo because it has such a classic look, due mostly to being black-and-white, I'm sure. It's a photo of my dad, who played quarterback, running with the football cradled in his arm, while a couple defenders are in pursuit. According to my dad, the photo is from a game during his time at Bordentown Prep, where he spent a year before going to college.

Besides all that background, though, the photo is important to me for two reasons:

First, the message itself. Although I'm no longer playing football of course, I hope the theme of being a champion continues to apply to my daily work as a lawyer, not so much in the strict sense of simply "winning" but more broadly to fighting or arguing for a cause or on behalf of someone else.

Second, the photo is important because it comes from my dad. I hope that what I do in my work and who I am makes him proud.