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Pick Me: A Story of Belonging
168 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
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July 13, 2025
Inspirational. I'd change the subtitle from "A Story of Belonging" to "A Story of Resilience." Being part of a team and choosing the right people to play/live alongside are major elements of the book, but more than anything the diamond metaphor dominates the story: how to take the difficulties and challenges of life and still trust in one's God-given value so as to shine forth.
Probably the reason why someone would choose to read this is because Emery works as the director of character development with the University of Michigan football team. What lessons can we learn from the faith and performance journey of the Wolverines football team? Emery mentions the football team frequently, of course, including the faith and leadership of coach Harbaugh, but the reader has to do a lot of the work to know why certain dates and games matter. Emery includes a lot of inspirational and motivational words but isn't the best storyteller. It's almost as if he's in a rush to finish. Would have loved some more background on Dametrious "Meechie" Walker, for instance. I don't follow Wolverines football, so the inclusion of his story, while I can tell it's inspirational, seems fragmented at best.
Perhaps related to the perception of rushing (Harbaugh left to coach the Chargers, so I have to write this NOW!), there also were elements of self-aggrandizing. Some of it I can excuse as setting the stage for why anyone should care what Robby Emery has to say, who he is and how he got the job. Other parts, though, were definitely out of place. Near the end, for instance, he tells the story of how and coach Harbaugh fought against the right to choose on abortion in Michigan and the night of the vote became Harbaugh's assistant. That story leads nowhere. Has nothing to do with the rest of the chapter... except that the chapter is about judging our success not by how much we do but by the focus of our energy on our purpose. How does a story of taking on more in one's life fit that message? Maybe there's an explanation but he doesn't give it. As it is, the story is simply, "Hey, we're pro-life on abortion and I became Harbaugh's assistant, look at me!" Combined with other parts of the book, Emery comes close to undermining one of the points of the book, that results don't matter as much as living out one's purpose with clarity and focus.
One can and should look beyond these flaws, however. Yes, Emery comes close to arguing that faith will bring tangible success in life, or that tangible success in life is what matters, but he never does say it. What Emery does say can bring hope that no matter how hard life is or gets, with putting trust in God, trust in the right friends, and trust in the inherent value each one of us has, we can survive and thrive in life.
Probably the reason why someone would choose to read this is because Emery works as the director of character development with the University of Michigan football team. What lessons can we learn from the faith and performance journey of the Wolverines football team? Emery mentions the football team frequently, of course, including the faith and leadership of coach Harbaugh, but the reader has to do a lot of the work to know why certain dates and games matter. Emery includes a lot of inspirational and motivational words but isn't the best storyteller. It's almost as if he's in a rush to finish. Would have loved some more background on Dametrious "Meechie" Walker, for instance. I don't follow Wolverines football, so the inclusion of his story, while I can tell it's inspirational, seems fragmented at best.
Perhaps related to the perception of rushing (Harbaugh left to coach the Chargers, so I have to write this NOW!), there also were elements of self-aggrandizing. Some of it I can excuse as setting the stage for why anyone should care what Robby Emery has to say, who he is and how he got the job. Other parts, though, were definitely out of place. Near the end, for instance, he tells the story of how and coach Harbaugh fought against the right to choose on abortion in Michigan and the night of the vote became Harbaugh's assistant. That story leads nowhere. Has nothing to do with the rest of the chapter... except that the chapter is about judging our success not by how much we do but by the focus of our energy on our purpose. How does a story of taking on more in one's life fit that message? Maybe there's an explanation but he doesn't give it. As it is, the story is simply, "Hey, we're pro-life on abortion and I became Harbaugh's assistant, look at me!" Combined with other parts of the book, Emery comes close to undermining one of the points of the book, that results don't matter as much as living out one's purpose with clarity and focus.
One can and should look beyond these flaws, however. Yes, Emery comes close to arguing that faith will bring tangible success in life, or that tangible success in life is what matters, but he never does say it. What Emery does say can bring hope that no matter how hard life is or gets, with putting trust in God, trust in the right friends, and trust in the inherent value each one of us has, we can survive and thrive in life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review