I want to tell you a quick story.

I’ve told this story before, but it’s something I remember so vividly. It’s played a big role in my life.

In 1993, I was the first American player to play in the German Bundesliga. It was Tag Team and Jurassic Park, and I was young and brash, and scoring goals for fun. I think I got five in the first six games.

Anyways, early that season I missed a chance near the end of a game. It ended in a draw, but it felt a lot more like two points lost than a point earned.

In the locker room after the game, I was taking off my cleats and noticed a small hole in my right sock. I turned to my teammate next to me and made a joke about the hole being the reason I had missed the chance.

Whap! Blood everywhere.

A veteran teammate of mine – I’ll leave his name out of it – had apparently heard the joke and had thrown his shoe at me from across the room. The stud caught me above the eye. Ended up needing five stitches.

I screamed at him, “What the hell did you do that for?!”

He didn’t flinch and looked at me dead in the eye.

“It’s not funny when you miss!”

He kept going in…

“Look around the room, Eric! We all lost money today because of you. Do you think that’s funny?

“Not anymore,” I said.

I went to the athletic trainer to get stitched up. While he was working on my eye, the trainer told me -- very sternly, as I recall -- that I needed to go apologize.

“Me?! Why the hell should I apologize to him? He’s the one who threw a shoe at me!”

The trainer just said, “Because he’s right, Eric. It’s not funny. And when you apologize, make sure you look him in the eye. Whatever you do, don’t break eye contact.”

So, I got my stitches and ran out to the bus where my teammate was about to get on, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look, I’m really sorry, I know it's not funny and….”

Something briefly caught my eye and I looked away. But I remembered what the trainer said and quickly re-connected.

“… and I want you to know it’s not going to happen again.”

My teammate put his arm around me, smiled, and said, “I accept your apology, but next time you have to keep eye contact, okay? Don’t look away.”

This may seem like a small thing to you. A forgettable moment in a long career. But for me, as a young player, that day taught me a lot about what it means to be a pro. It was humbling.

Because here’s the truth: If you want to make it to the highest level, there’s no “Hey nice try, you’ll get ‘em next time.” There’s just success, and failure, and accountability.

That’s it.