Joe Marelle Quotes

“I always thought I was the head coach, but I learned God is the head coach. He makes up the game plan. He decides when you get to play overtime. And when he says game over, it's over.”
― Joe Marelle

“When I found out I had cancer, I decided I was going to enjoy every day I had left. That's what I'm going to do now. I'm going to find something to do each day. Each day that I'm idle means I'm wasting the gift God gave me. Life is too precious to waste a single day.”
― Joe Marelle

“Once I was given the 16th seed. Incurable cancer but guess what? A 16 has beaten a one.”
― Joe Marelle

“When you’re a coach or athlete and you win a championship, you realize that the championship was really a work-in-progress. What you went through during the pre-season, in the regular-season and then during the post-season enabled you to win a title. I treated the stages of my cancer treatment as the phases of a championship season, and it kept me on track to accomplishing my ultimate goal.”
― Joe Marelle

“One of the things that can help people with cancer is having something that you really look forward to doing, so that you can focus on that while the treatments are going on. I guess it’s like saying, ‘I have unfinished business left before I die.”
― Joe Marelle

“I would tell someone who’s battling cancer to write down the five to
ten things that you look forward to doing with the rest of your life. In other words, your future should be the focus. For example, ‘I want to see my grandchildren,’ or ‘I want to take that trip.’ You’ve got to find something to look forward to that will give you strength. You want it to draw you like a magnet. If you don’t try to self-motivate yourself through positive thoughts, cancer will win because it’s not easily defeated.”
― Joe Marelle

“In my case, the stats that were being quoted to me were not about me personally. I’m not a stat, I’m a person. I considered myself a ‘stat breaker.”
― Joe Marelle

“You’ve got to have dreams.
If you don’t continue to
have dreams, then you’re
only defeating yourself. If
you continue to follow your dreams, you’re going to succeed.”
― Joe Marelle