Hover over Rudy-Dr. Kenneth Polke is here to tell his own inspiring story about overcoming obstacles to playing in the NFL in his new book Conquering Your Adversities.
In this hybrid of memoirs and self-help book, Dr. Polke shares his inspiring journey, from growing up on the mob-filled streets of Cleveland in the 1950s and attending a school for Catholic boys to watching the nation explode into violence during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, seeing your Collinwood neighborhood become known as Bomb City, USA, and at the same time staying focused on walking the straight and narrow path that would lead you to your dream of playing in the NFL.
I’m not a soccer fanatic, but I always love stories from poverty to riches or a dream come true, and every page in this book is filled with both. One thing I really enjoyed about Conquering Your Adversities is that Dr. Polke contrasted his personal stories with keeping a pulse on what was happening outside of his private sphere, in his city and in the nation. As a result, the book was filled with nostalgia for America’s best days in the decades after World War II, as well as some of its most turbulent moments. At the heart of the story is the Polke family. Dr. Polke describes growing up in a small house in Collinwood with his brother and little sister and later a little sister. Their father read to them and educated them on everything from sports to the mob. When his mother wasn’t busy caring for the family, she was working hard at the Jergens factory to make sure they had everything they needed. Dr. Polke’s parents were working-class, middle-class people who upheld the Ozzie and Harriet values of the 1950s and instilled them in their children, giving them strength and a moral code to follow when temptation presented itself.
And temptation surrounded Dr. Polke as a child. His parents sent him to a Catholic school to keep him out of troubled public schools, but even when surrounded by nuns, he couldn’t help but get into trouble by stealing communion wine from the church. But much worse, the streets of his neighborhood were controlled by the mafia, and although Dr. Polke never had direct dealings with them, he was always aware that they were in his neighborhood; She often had to follow her father’s cues on how to react to different situations, who to be friendly with, and who to avoid.
The main mob figure in the neighborhood was Danny Greene, who would later be the subject of the film Kill the Irishman. Dr. Polke had a memorable encounter with Greene as a child, a positive one, thankfully, that allowed him to understand why Greene was revered as a type of Robin Hood in his community, although he also knew that Greene’s decisions were ultimately instance an error.
When the going got tough, Dr. Polke always managed to persevere, but the temptation to take the easy path to success was always present. When he didn’t have a lot of money, or when it seemed like his dreams weren’t going to come true, Dr. Polke would occasionally see rich guys drive by in fancy cars with beautiful girls, and then he would realize he could. he would enjoy that lifestyle if he wanted to join organized crime. Instead, he plays sports, specifically soccer, as his outlet.
Dr. Polke’s football career is impressive. He may not be a household name today, but he went much further than most of those who dream of playing professionally. He tells us stories of great moments on the soccer field in high school. We feel butterflies in our stomachs along with him when he meets with recruiters from different colleges and ultimately we feel like falling from our chairs in shock when he finally gets that magic call. I don’t want to spoil all the suspense, but I will say that Polke ended up playing for two different NFL teams.
And then in the end, he walked away from football in search of something better …
You will have to read the rest of Dr. Polke’s story for yourself, not only to find out what happened to him, but also to find out what can happen to you. Each chapter of Conquering Your Adversities ends with a series of challenging questions for readers to reflect on the Dr. Polke story, think about similar challenges they have faced, and figure out how to overcome them. In the end, this book becomes a model for readers to follow their own dreams and achieve success despite whatever obstacles stand in their way.
If you want inspiration, if you love history, if you are from Cleveland, if you love soccer, heck, if you are a human being, you will love this book because you will identify with it and it will. it will help you overcome your own adversities. There are many self-help books out there, but few can help as much as exploring how someone else overcame hardships and drawing inspiration from their personal story, and Dr. Polke delivers all the way.
