By Tim Smith

It’s August and training camp is in full stride, for both college and pro football. Hope springs eternal this time of year. I have tentative hopes for my New Orleans Saints, my Tulane Green Wave and my LSU Tigers, as I’m sure you do for your favorite teams.

That reminded me of a story from LSU. There was a longtime Equipment Manager for the football team named Jeff Boss, who died unexpectedly in 2003 of brain tumor at the age of 54. Coach Nick Saban said of Jeff, “He was without a doubt one of the absolute best people that you’d ever meet. You don’t have many chances to meet someone who was as selfless as Jeff. He was always thinking of others and putting their feelings first. That quality above all others is something special that I wish everyone had and I know it would make the world a much better place, because it certainly made LSU a better place.”

Thinking of others and putting other people first...

Besides being an Equipment Manager, Jeff was also the man who helped develop the 'Boss Shark' cleat for Nike, a football shoe marketed nationally for intercollegiate play. When Nike offered him a choice: $10,000 cash or $10,000 in Nike stock for his design, Jeff chose the former. He was getting ready to propose to his future wife and needed an engagement ring.

So, he took the cash.

Looking back, that may be the most expensive wedding ring ever purchased by an Equipment Manager. That stock would worth more $3 million today! There is an obvious lesson here: think long-term and invest in others. What looks small today can become incredibly valuable if you give it time to grow.

Jeff didn’t spend the money on himself. He spent it on a promise. On a future. On the woman he loved. Certainly, the stock would have grown. But so did the marriage. So did his family. So did his legacy.

One can laugh about the money Jeff left on the table. Yet we must honor the man. At the end of the day, some investments cannot be measured by a stock price and dividend.

Jeff may have bought the most expensive ring in history. But he would tell you it was worth every penny.

Who are you investing in?