Many people were outraged when Tommie Frazier failed to gain entry into the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame this week. One writer, Adam Jacobi on CBS Sports.com went as far as saying: “So if Tommie Frazier is not an immediate, unquestionable first-ballot Hall of Famer in this sport, then what is the point of having a College Football Hall of Fame?”

While I can certainly understand why people are upset, I also take it with a grain of salt. Sadly, who wins most awards handed out in our society is more often than not determined by things other than objective analysis. In theory, the Heisman Memorial Trophy annually goes to an individual who deserves designation as the most outstanding college football player in the United States. Sometimes they get it right, but more often they don’t. Do you really think in 75-years of handing out this award, not once has a defensive player, tight end or offensive lineman been the most outstanding college player in our country? I find that hard to fathom.

A key ingredient in high level success is the ability to control what’s under your control, and not let what is beyond your control consume any of your time and energy. Frazier’s reaction to the snub makes it crystal clear why he was so successful in football and I suspect in his life to this day. He didn’t overreact or blow it out of proportion like most people do, he simply took the news in stride.

These quotes from Frazier could have come out of a textbook on the mindset necessary for getting the most out of what you have. “Other people paid attention for me. I didn’t really worry. I just got a couple texts from my wife. It’s just one of those deals, out of my control.” Followed by this one, “When I can control something and it doesn’t happen, then I get upset. When you have others doing the voting, you can’t control it. It was an honor being on the list.”

I look at Tommie Frazier’s snub the same way I looked at the Academy Award for best actor in 1999. It was a rare year where there were arguably three exceptional performances that were more than worthy of the award. The Oscar went to Kevin Spacey for his performance in American Beauty over Denzel Washington in The Hurricane and Russell Crowe in The Insider. I suspect the difference had a lot to do with the fact that Russell Crowe was being nominated for the first time for an Academy Award, while Spacey and Washington had each previously won an Oscar for best supporting actor.

Justice has a funny way of being served over time if you take care of the things you can control, and let go of your worries and frustrations. Interestingly, that is what happened when Russell Crow won the Oscar for best actor in 2000 for his performance in Gladiator, and Denzel Washington won the Oscar for best actor in 2001 for his performance in Training Day.

I suspect Tommie Frazier will receive a similar outcome a year from now too. Because, like those actors, he did not do what he did to win awards, but because he loved what he was doing. In his words: “I played to be part of the tradition at Nebraska and win national championships. If that warrants me being in the Hall of Fame, that’s fine, I’m not losing any sleep over it. It’s over and done with. We’ll see what happens next year.”

Tommie has the rare ability that all extraordinary people have, to put the past behind them and keep moving forward towards their next triumph.

Posted in The Mind Side Blog