FOXBOROUGH, Mass - Anyone who plays in the National Football League is a competitor. They want to win and they never want to lose. So none of the players on the New England Patriots are happy with how this season has gone.
And Lawrence Guy is among them. Yet, the defensive lineman spoke to the media on Thursday about what has helped him get through this season.
"Everybody's looking at us like, oh you must be upset or are you doubting yourself. No! We're still going out there to have fun," Guy said. "I tell people all the time, win or lose, my kids don't care. I'm going to come home and be dad.
"We're blessed to be able to go out here and play this game, so take that opportunity, because there are so many people out here who want that opportunity," Guys added. "And that's why, win or lose, you have the opportunity to come out here and play the game that you always wanted to play as a profession."
And when he is going through some of those hard times during the season, he has the best support group to lean back on.
"I think the best thing about it is, I want to say Tuesday, my oldest daughter looked up at me and said 'Daddy, can I be the cheerleader for you?," Guy told reporters. "And I was like this is one of the reasons why I play this game. Because she gets to enjoy me while watching. She didn't see if we won or lost. She just saw me out there playing and that's the inspiration."
Now in his 12th year in the league, Guy has highs during his time in the NFL, while also experiencing some lows. And while this is certainly a low for the Patriots at the moment, he refuses to just sit there and do nothing.
"I say it all the time, you can't live in the past," he said. "But, you're going to win, you're going to lose games in this league. You got to accept it... It is what it is. Let's keep it going."
So what's his message to the team?
"All we can control is we can control," Guy said. "Just keep going, keep grinding it out, keep enjoying the game. I love playing defense... So anytime I get to go on that field and play defense, I'm happy about it."
And as he simply put, "sitting on the sidelines is boring."
Guy's attitude should serve as an inspiration to his fellow teammates along with the entire fanbase. He gets to play football for a living and at the end of the day, he gets to arrive home and be greeted by his four kids and loving wife.
So he is always looking at things from a much more positive view. And that's not such a bad thing. Especially when he has other players come up to him after some games explaining how they watched Guy's film and it has helped them get better, thanking him for all he has done in this league.
So while winning is fun, Guy is focused on so much more.
"That's the reason that we play because we're going to inspire so many more people to do and achieve their goals."
More must-reads: