FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Happy Father's Day to everyone out there crushing it and trying his best in the dad department. This is your day, and while spending it reading this article is certainly a choice, let's make it a good one.

The Falcons wrapped up minicamp last week, which provided the opportunity to check in with several of the team's top players. That list included quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who is undoubtedly in the midst of an important offseason. If you'd like to read about his offseason and plans for training camp, we've got so much for you in that category.

Today, though, it's time to reflect upon the impact a father can have. More specifically, let's talk about a moment that sticks with Penix Jr. many years later.

"My dad, that's my hero," he said. "… I feel like I couldn't have got as far without him, so it's a blessing to be able to have somebody like that in my life."

The life lesson, passed from father to son, occurred because of a youth all-star baseball game. This is a professional athlete we're talking about, it's no surprise he was also a standout baseball player at a young age.

Penix Sr. was the coach of his son's team, as he was on many occasions. It was a role he was well-suited to, given his own outstanding athletic accomplishments.

In his time, Penix Sr. was one of the best players to grace the football field at Tennessee Tech. A three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at running back from 1992-95, Penix Sr. gained 4,055 all-purpose yards and scored 33 total touchdowns during his career. He was inducted into the Tennessee Tech Hall of Fame in 2024.

After forging a successful path for himself, Penix Sr. knew the lessons his son needed to learn along the way, and the all-star game provided a great teaching opportunity.

"I had to sit on the bench, not in the dugout, but in the stands because I couldn't find my belt on game day," Penix Jr. recalled. "I text my teammates and ask them, 'Can they bring a belt?' They brought a belt. My dad said, 'No.'

"He was just teaching me discipline. You've got to be able to take care of your stuff. Whenever game day comes, you've got to have everything. I wasn't ready that day. And as a kid you like, 'For a belt?'"

It's this part of the story that I especially love, because it's not about the belt at all, which is a difficult concept to grasp as a kid. That's exactly why this lesson had to happen. It was a failure to plan, prepare and confirm — all of which are essential qualities for a quarterback, by the way — and Penix Jr. had already lost this battle before he ever discovered the belt's absence.

The belt is a real-life example of the importance of leaving no single detail omitted. That's some fatherly wisdom right there.

"It's crazy, you know? I didn't even need a belt, but it was part of our uniform," Penix Jr. said. "So that's what he was just teaching me — small things like that that I didn't understand. But I do now."

Classrooms across America, and possibly even the world, are littered with motivational posters. One such poster I came across in my travels as a youth featured the classic adage, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

It's ironic then that throughout our most formative years, talent actually can (and usually does) beat out hard work. How many among us had classmates who never paid attention or did homework on time but aced every test? Or the kid on the basketball team four inches taller than everyone else whose advantage proved insurmountable?

As the pool winnows and the cream rises to the top, however, work ethic becomes the key differentiator. Those who develop an appreciation for the benefits of work at a young age can cement key habits for lasting success.

Work, itself, isn't enough, though. Knowing how to apply one's efforts can be just as important to maximize the precious few hours available each day. As with most things in life, finding the right approach takes some trial and error, so it's best to start early.

What Penix Sr. did was gift his son time in the form of wisdom, undoubtedly learned either from his own upbringing or hard-earned lessons that came at their own cost. He sped up Penix Jr.'s learning curve in a moment where the cost of the lesson was a period of embarrassment that only served to fortify the point.

So, shout out to all the fathers and mothers out there providing lessons, even if they cause temporary discomfort. We may not all become NFL quarterbacks because of it, but we are better for it.

"He did everything for me," Penix said. "Growing up, he's always my coach but he wasn't no players coach. My dad, he benched me if I ain't playing good. Tell me I was stinking up the field because he always wanted the best out of me. As a little kid, you don't understand that. You're like, my dad benching me. Like, 'You're my dad,' you know? But seeing how hard he pushed me; he helped me get to this point.

"I feel like I couldn't have got this far without him, so it's a blessing to be able to have somebody like that in my life."