Those are the words that Packers head coach Mike McCarthy told Andrew Quarless after his July 4th arrest for (allegedly) firing two shots in the air during an argument.
Per Jason Wilde when Quarless was asked how the conversation went, “He was very upset. Very upset. I just apologized to him for bringing negativity to this place. We have a great group of character guys. There’s just so much character in this locker room. I just apologized for bringing negative because you never want to bring negative to something like this.” said Quarless.
McCarthy handled this very well. Make it known you are disappointed and also make it known the individual has your support to correct the mistake. Because if ever a mistake means you're done, then all is lost. We all make mistakes, you make mistakes, I make mistakes, every one of us makes mistakes and all we can do is learn from them and not repeat them.
Making things infinitely more difficult, Quarless and his long time girlfriend suffered a parents worst fear when they lost their newborn daughter during delivery.
The month of July has left a powerful impact on Quarless. “Life is serious. I'm a role model to a lot of kids. You can't take things for granted and I don't take this organization for granted and I don't take my position for granted. I'm just really, really thankful. That's the main word I can really use is thankful for this group of guys. My whole mindset about life has kind of changed a lot. With my daughter, I promise you, I was looking to find a little bit of happiness in my daughter. You just can’t take life for granted.”
Here's hoping that Quarless can somehow, someway focus on the more important things than football.