NFL Player’s 56-Word Speech
Shiyazh Pete didn’t make the Dallas Cowboys’ cut, but his short speech (below) has gotten attention. Students can analyze his word and delivery choices and will see examples of humility.
In a PBS News Hour interview, Pete talks about his locker-room speech. He demonstrates humility, expressing gratitude for the Cowboys giving him the platform to speak. He said he planned his own speech but admits that the speech structure was inspired:
And those words that I mentioned, they were my own, but I will say they—the speech, the structure of it was heavily inspired from a video game series "Halo 2."
So there was some inspiration to it, and I'm not going to say it was, like, all me, but I got it from a really cool video game I used to play as a kid.
Pete speaks of shared values and belonging. This admission about Halo 2 is also an act of humility. Students can compare the game music to Pete’s speech; they might conclude that Pete’s interpretation is loose, which makes his admission less of a confession and more of an acknowledgment.
Pete’s interview is worth watching for other examples of humility. He speaks about youth, fans, and his community as well as the responsibility he feels as the first member of the Navajo Nation to sign an NFL contract.
Representing his community certainly factors into why his speech went viral. If the same speech were given by someone else, would it have had the same impact? Would he have been given an opportunity to address his teammates in the locker room at all? If it were a different time in history, would talk of differences and becoming “brothers” have landed the same way? Would he have gotten the same attention if he had made the team? Students might conclude that the speech itself isn’t brilliant but that the speaker and circumstances are extraordinary.
Here’s his full speech. (I count 56 words, although news reports say 59, possibly counting the contractions separately.)
That was an incredible win. I'm very fortunate to be amongst you and play in the same field with the same star holding on our chest. I'm proud of us, proud of how far we've come. This game, fate, has brought us here as strangers, but this game, this star, this team will make us brothers.