Underdog Done Good

My father taught me a lot of valuable lessons during my childhood and adolescence, but one that sticks with me still is to be a champion for the underdog. He felt blessed in his athletic abilities and felt badly for those not possessing these gifts, so he would spend time helping them by coaching, mentoring, or giving advice.

I was fortunate enough to inherit my father’s athletic ability and his passion for underdogs. My favorite stories are the ones about underdogs who pursued their dreams until, after a lot of hard work, they were realized.

I think the best movies are those such as The Pursuit of Happyness, Erin Brockovich, and Rudy. To me, the most interesting books are about people who broke through barriers to achieve greatness, such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and yes, even Hillary Clinton. So, imagine my delight when I recently learned of an inspirational story right here in Minnesota. Actually, right in my own neighborhood!

Dream Shines Through

Although I like this story because it’s about my favorite sport (football), it’s a great example for business leaders, too. Business plans are essentially dreams, after all, and it takes a heck of a lot of determination, sacrifice, and focus on the end game to achieve those dreams, right?

This is the story of David Raih, the son of my neighbors, Dr. Tom and Mollie Raih. I remember David as a tall, gangly young boy playing park league football and throwing the ball around with his brother in their front yard. As a quarterback for St. Thomas Academy during his senior year of high school, David set school passing records and earned all-state honors.

From conversations with David’s father over the years, I knew that David’s brother played football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and that David had gone on to play for the Hawkeyes as well in 1999, earning a spot on the team as a walk-on quarterback. However, his college football career as a backup quarterback was cut short during his junior year due to a shoulder injury. But football stayed in Raih’s blood, and he stayed with the team as a student assistant coach, and then helped to coach a freshman quarterback.

In the meantime, Raih’s business career was becoming more promising. He received a business degree with honors in finance, and was soon working in the medical sales field, at first in Iowa City and then in Los Angeles.

That’s the extent of what I knew about my neighbor’s kid until recently, when Raih’s dad told me, wearing a proud grin on his face, “You’re not going to believe this!”