I was reading an ESPN article about the legacy left behind by Texas A&M football coach R.C. Slocum.

My dad went to Texas A&M for graduate school not long after arriving in the U.S. from India. He was in College Station when the football program there was led by R.C. Slocum. It’s unlikely he ever crossed paths with R.C. I’ve had friends and other family members attend Texas A&M. It’s a great school with lots of tradition. R.C. Slocum turned it into a winning football juggernaut. Slocum grew up dirt poor, connected with the community, and assembled teams with mostly African-American kids. He arrived in College Station at a time when racism was pervasive in sports.

I spent some time in College Station as a kid. Fortunately, I have great memories meeting other immigrants’ children and going to football, basketball, and baseball games. My parents believed in assimilation and becoming Americans. No rocks were left unturned in my time there. High-character, faith-based people like R.C. Slocum were the bedrock of the local culture that was welcoming to outsiders.

Phil Fulmer, another football legend, reflected on R.C. Slocum and shared a story worth repeating. As we get older there’s a wish to grind to the end at the expense of living itself. There’s a point one has to cash in the chips.

ESPN article:

“Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer says that perspective changed his life. After Fulmer, who won a national title with the Vols, was forced out in 2008, he showed up at the national coaching convention determined to get another job. Slocum grabbed him in the hall and took him to the hotel restaurant.

Slocum handed the server a dollar and asked for a roll of pennies as a befuddled Fulmer tried to comprehend what was happening.

“He lays the pennies out there and says, ‘How old are you?’ And Fulmer said to Slocum, “Well, I’m 58.” So he took 58 pennies off the table. He said, let’s say you live till you’re 85, a good long age. He took 15 more pennies off the table and said, maybe those last five years won’t be very good. So he took five more pennies off the table and I’m looking at those pennies, and that’s not a lot of pennies left.”

Slocum told Fulmer it’s important to count your pennies, but it’s more important to make your pennies count.

Fulmer reflected, “It hit me right between the eyes. At the time I had six grandchildren — nine now — and Slocum said, if you want to chase that crazy sport around, you go ahead, but I’m going to enjoy my pennies and that’s it for me.”

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America was once a place where successful people retired like Phil Fulmer and R.C. Slocum. They focused on faith and family — while leaving an imprint on future generations. My dad retired in his early 60s.

Today, the elderly can’t seem to slow down in sports and in the halls of Wall Street and Washington, DC. What’s clear is that these old people are mostly counting their pennies rather than making a positive difference on future generations.