The Real You
McCombs alum and NFL veteran Sam Acho shares stories from his new book on bringing your authentic self to work.
Sam Acho was bursting with memories and anecdotes in mid-October as he celebrated the debut of his first book.
Acho, BBA Business Honors ’10, the former Texas Longhorn football star who played in the NFL for nine seasons, was a recent guest in a virtual Texas McCombs Presents talk with Gaylen Paulson, McCombs associate dean and director of Texas Executive Education, entitled “Let the Real You Shine at Work.”
For the 32-year-old Acho, his most significant collegiate memory may be the one from a January morning more than a decade ago. He believes the brightest parts of his college career hinged on a moment he slowed down, held open a door, and smiled at a stranger.
Acho was coming off a second season as a Longhorns football player and was dealing with an unfamiliar disappointment in the classroom. UT had beaten Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl earlier in the month, but he’d been notified that his GPA no longer was high enough to be part of the Business Honors Program. Acho had appealed the decision and was turned down.
At the urging of his father, Acho asked for reinstatement again. This time he emphasized that the “real Sam” wasn’t a hulking defensive lineman, but a guy who disarms people with his smile and preferred to spend his time in a classroom, lab or library so he could absorb as much knowledge as possible.
Acho hadn’t heard a decision on his second appeal. He said something in his gut, “his spirit” urged him to slow down long enough to hold open the door for the woman who was coming into the building behind him.
Turns out, the woman was working on Acho’s appeal. As he was sitting in class later that day, Acho was reinstated to the honors program. Before he left Austin as a fourth-round NFL draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals, Acho’s Longhorns played for a national championship, won the Campbell Trophy — considered the sport’s academic Heisman — and finished his degree in business honors.
Acho’s book, “Let the World See You: How to Be Real in a World Full of Fakes,” was released Oct. 13. It’s built on such memories, with each serving as a reminder to be the real you in person, whether it’s showing your vulnerability, your brains, your bravery or your pain. His life stories are based on his family — he’s the son of Nigerian immigrants. He now is married with three children. There are stories of his faith. And there are details of his philanthropy.
Acho also offered relevant business memories of how he used his education at UT to help negotiate with billionaire pro football owners, including the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones. Acho was on the negotiating committee representing the NFL Players Association.
“It really just showed me,” says Acho, “oftentimes we go into situations whether it’s owner/player, or Black/White, we go into situations with these preconceived notions about what people think or who they are, what they care about, when our reality we are a lot more alike than we are different. Right? Okay, no matter what your skin color is, what your what your gender is, we’re all made of about 98% water at the end of the day, right? We are more alike than we are different.”
Story by Suzanne Halliburton
