“I’m just another duck on a pond.”
We all have quotes that we rely upon as we work our way through this thing called life. Quotes from favorite movies, songs, television shows, and the like. From the moment I first heard this line from coach Jimmy McGinty in The Replacements, this quote has been one such crutch for me.
Gene Hackman, who played Jimmy McGinty in The Replacements, passed away Wednesday at the age of 95. Hackman leaves a storied Hollywood legacy behind, with unforgettable roles in films such as Bonnie & Clyde, The French Connection, Mississippi Burning, and Unforgiven. Many readers of this piece might associate him with the role of Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers, or as the eccentric patriarch in The Royal Tenenbaums.
But for some reason Hackman’s role as a coach of a group of replacement football players in The Replacements always stuck with me, for reasons beyond the discussion with his replacement quarterback Shane “Footsteps” Falco mentioned above. The Replacements centers on one of life’s greatest themes: That of second chances. Second chances are all around us in life, from the football field to our city streets, courthouses, schools, and universities. At some point in life everyone needs a second chance, some even a third or fourth.
Yet there is another reason that scene always stuck with me, and it gets to the focal point of that discussion between McGinty and Falco, portrayed by Keanu Reeves. They are playing catch on the field the night before the replacement players take the field for the first time as a team. When McGinty asks Falco how the quarterback is doing, Falco responds that he’s “good.”
That’s when McGinty describes him as a duck on a pond.
“You’re like a duck on a pond,” begins the coach. “On the surface everything looks calm but, beneath the water, those little feet are just churning a mile a minute.”
After a few more lines, Falco asks his new coach how he is doing.
“I’m just another duck on a pond.”
Many of us feel like ducks on a pond each day. Going through our daily lives with a brave face but fighting an internal battle along the way, our little feet churning a mile a minute. That was me, for years, in a previous life as an attorney. You might see me step off the Metro in D.C., suit on, briefcase in hand, but I was another duck on a pond, the anxieties of life building up in my mind, my little feet churning a mile a minute below the surface.
Many of us might feel like ducks on a pond right now.
That imagery has stuck with me from the moment I first saw it, as a reminder that everyone you know, everyone you encounter, is dealing with something. Something that has their feet churning below the surface, something that has them doing their best to stay afloat.
There is still one more thing about that scene that has stuck with me from when I first saw it.
Near the end of their conversation, McGinty reminds Falco that he needs to get some sleep, as he has a game the next day.
“Get some sleep kiddo, you play professional football tomorrow.”
Kiddo was the nickname my dad, who coached me for so many years, had for me.
Gene Hackman was often described as Hollywood’s “everyman.”
But to me he was a coach, and my dad. Both of whom leave behind an incredible legacy, and art that will live forever.
