Fourth Down Frenzy

There are times during almost any football game that you can pretty much guarantee a fourth down decision has to be made. A team can find themselves fourth and inches, fourth and a five with one minute left and down by six, fourth and two on the other teams 15…and so on, and so forth. There are many different scenarios that can occur that force a coach to decide when to go for it and when to just punt and play defense…or heck, pull out a fake punt and really make things interesting, why not right? With so many options having to be weighed in a short amount of time, it is possible that the outcome of the game can be decided at that very moment. Sometimes the decision is obvious, but more times than not, there are plenty of viable solutions that carry just as much importance as the next. So how do you decide which play to call in when it is NOT obvious?

I’m not as concerned with how the concept of fourth down plays relates to public relations for this post as I am how it relates to my personal life outside of public relations, and possibly other PR Pro’s. As PR Pro’s we are pretty good and evaluating all the “what if’s” of a situation and we often find ourselves playing the devil’s advocate and focus on the possible negative outcomes of the play we call in. If we go for it and miss getting the first down, we turn the ball over…can we afford a turn over with our current field position? Is it safer to kick the field goal than go for it or even punt it? What if we fumble? What if the other team sniffs out the fake punt…what if, what IF, WHAT IF? I’ve alluded to this concept before and we as PR Pro’s may not know the answer to all the “what if’s”, but at least we have discussed them and planned for them. It’s a big part of what we do, especially when so much is riding on the outcome of that one decision.

So what happens when a PR Pro’s professional approach doesn’t mesh well with their personal life approach? As a PR Pro, it is ingrained in my mind to anticipate the “what if’s” and to look for the possible negative outcomes that are lurking in the background…and to be honest, I find myself in a fourth down frenzy when I translate that same concept to my personal life. I have been taught, and I fully understand, that one cannot live their life worrying about the “what if’s” but I haven’t learned how to turn off my “PR brain” when I leave the office and approach my life with my “Tammy brain.” I guess what I am trying to say is we all find ourselves in a fourth-down situation from time to time and sometimes the best option is obvious and there is no need to weigh any others; but when that is not the case, do you just say fourth and “ef” it and hope for the best or do you weigh all the “what if’s?” The one thing I do know for sure is that a decision has to be made in a timely manner…if not, an entirely new set of “what if’s” is created.