Listen up kids, and I’ll tell you a great story of how persistence and practice paid off.

The story starts with our hero, Ethan Albright. You see, Ethan is one of football’s unsung heroes: the long-snapper.

Sure, you can say that they are just lineman that aren’t good enough to start, having to make themselves valuable to a team so the player won’t be cut, but that’s not the point.

The point is that Albright wasn’t that good at all. In EA Sports’ Madden Football 2007, Albright is listed as a 53. Kids, that’s the worst in the game. Evan worse than Cade McNown, you say? Yes, even worse than Cade McNown.

But Albright saw that he could improve and he worked hard to get to a better place. Albright probably dreamed of a 70 rating, but got something better in return: a Pro Bowl invitation this season.

Once a 53 in Madden and now attending his first Pro Bowl. What a turnaround.

See kids, setting goals and achieving them through hard work can be attained. Someday you can be your own Ethan Albright.

Actually, aim a little higher.

Andrew Hansen, Staff Writer