Uploaded November 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
John Urschel, Retired NFL pro and current MIT PhD math candidate
“Sports are fun. I craved the competition and the adrenaline and the challenge. In high school, I made some of my best friends through football and lacrosse. Sports could be hard at times, even painful, but my teammates and I shared that challenge and that pain, and we had a common goal. And, of course, sports are our common culture. They cut across age, race, economic status. When a kid turns on the TV, he or she sees athletes, not mathematicians. They see how desirable it is to be an NFL player or an NBA star, or even a relatively mediocre, unpaid college point guard with a future as a plumber. (They don’t see the part about the plumber, but...)
If you have any athletic talent at all when you are a kid, people will encourage it. I had coaches in my ear, motivating me to do just one more rep in the weight room, when I thought I couldn’t do any more. I had the example of so many athletes and teammates next to me, putting it on the line. Strangers would come up to me and encourage me. They would literally cheer for me. Strangers! And I’m not talking about my time in the NFL. I’m talking about high school.
Needless to say, I didn’t have math teachers who were coaxing one more problem out of me. They weren’t calling the Princeton math department and telling them to recruit me, the way my high school football coach was calling the Alabama football team. I didn’t have any public mathematicians to inspire me, or for me to want to emulate. I didn’t even know what a mathematician did when I was a kid. I believe it’s up to all of us to encourage young people to pursue mathematics, whether as a career or as a tool in whatever they’re passionate in. Or even, as a source of pleasure, the way puzzles are for me.
It is my goal -- even, I believe, my responsibility -- to help others see how fascinating, rewarding, and even fun mathematics can be. I want us to put an end to the idea that anyone can say, casually, that “math isn’t for me.” Math should be, in some respect, for everyone. We don’t, as a society, tolerate illiteracy. We shouldn’t accept math illiteracy, either.
Beyond that, I believe that we should identify those who are interested in math, encourage them, and give them opportunities to push themselves and excel -- much in the same way people routinely do for young athletes. I wish that when I were in high school, I had mathematicians to look up to and to inspire me.
How can we motivate young people to become interested in math? There will always be kids who know, from an early age, that this is what they love--kids who dream of winning the Math Olympiad, not a gold medal at the Olympics. But that only describes a few. I’ll bet there are a whole lot more kids just like me, who weren’t even aware of their aptitude and interest, and who weren’t being challenged, who didn’t even know that mathematics is a field that you can do things in.
How do we reach them? How do we show them that math isn’t just homework, that it isn’t just drudgery?
The National Museum of Mathematics is an important part of this effort. Their emphasis on interactive exhibitions, collaborative projects, and surprising solutions can instill a sense of wonder and excitement about mathematics. They can help instill a sense of satisfaction when a hard problem or puzzle is solved. I know no better feeling than that sense of satisfaction. It’s not unlike winning a game -- only the game couldn’t be more important. It’s the game of determining what holds true.
Thank you again to the National Museum of Mathematics, and most importantly, thank you to all of you. When a child looks at the Museum of Math, they see interesting and challenging exhibits and games, and a glimpse of the fascinating mathematics underpinning them. When I look at the museum, I see something different. I see a community of people who know in their hearts that math matters, and who have made it part of their life’s mission to promote mathematics and inspire the next generation of young thinkers. And it warms my heart. For that, I thank you.”
To see more videos from MoMath’s 2018 gala, including card tricks with Fields Medalist Manjul Bhargava and music from Pete Muller, visit gala.momath.org
John Urschel, Retired NFL pro and current MIT PhD math candidate
“Sports are fun. I craved the competition and the adrenaline and the challenge. In high school, I made some of my best friends through football and lacrosse. Sports could be hard at times, even painful, but my teammates and I shared that challenge and that pain, and we had a common goal. And, of course, sports are our common culture. They cut across age, race, economic status. When a kid turns on the TV, he or she sees athletes, not mathematicians. They see how desirable it is to be an NFL player or an NBA star, or even a relatively mediocre, unpaid college point guard with a future as a plumber. (They don’t see the part about the plumber, but...)
If you have any athletic talent at all when you are a kid, people will encourage it. I had coaches in my ear, motivating me to do just one more rep in the weight room, when I thought I couldn’t do any more. I had the example of so many athletes and teammates next to me, putting it on the line. Strangers would come up to me and encourage me. They would literally cheer for me. Strangers! And I’m not talking about my time in the NFL. I’m talking about high school.
Needless to say, I didn’t have math teachers who were coaxing one more problem out of me. They weren’t calling the Princeton math department and telling them to recruit me, the way my high school football coach was calling the Alabama football team. I didn’t have any public mathematicians to inspire me, or for me to want to emulate. I didn’t even know what a mathematician did when I was a kid. I believe it’s up to all of us to encourage young people to pursue mathematics, whether as a career or as a tool in whatever they’re passionate in. Or even, as a source of pleasure, the way puzzles are for me.
It is my goal -- even, I believe, my responsibility -- to help others see how fascinating, rewarding, and even fun mathematics can be. I want us to put an end to the idea that anyone can say, casually, that “math isn’t for me.” Math should be, in some respect, for everyone. We don’t, as a society, tolerate illiteracy. We shouldn’t accept math illiteracy, either.
Beyond that, I believe that we should identify those who are interested in math, encourage them, and give them opportunities to push themselves and excel -- much in the same way people routinely do for young athletes. I wish that when I were in high school, I had mathematicians to look up to and to inspire me.
How can we motivate young people to become interested in math? There will always be kids who know, from an early age, that this is what they love--kids who dream of winning the Math Olympiad, not a gold medal at the Olympics. But that only describes a few. I’ll bet there are a whole lot more kids just like me, who weren’t even aware of their aptitude and interest, and who weren’t being challenged, who didn’t even know that mathematics is a field that you can do things in.
How do we reach them? How do we show them that math isn’t just homework, that it isn’t just drudgery?
The National Museum of Mathematics is an important part of this effort. Their emphasis on interactive exhibitions, collaborative projects, and surprising solutions can instill a sense of wonder and excitement about mathematics. They can help instill a sense of satisfaction when a hard problem or puzzle is solved. I know no better feeling than that sense of satisfaction. It’s not unlike winning a game -- only the game couldn’t be more important. It’s the game of determining what holds true.
Thank you again to the National Museum of Mathematics, and most importantly, thank you to all of you. When a child looks at the Museum of Math, they see interesting and challenging exhibits and games, and a glimpse of the fascinating mathematics underpinning them. When I look at the museum, I see something different. I see a community of people who know in their hearts that math matters, and who have made it part of their life’s mission to promote mathematics and inspire the next generation of young thinkers. And it warms my heart. For that, I thank you.”
To see more videos from MoMath’s 2018 gala, including card tricks with Fields Medalist Manjul Bhargava and music from Pete Muller, visit gala.momath.org
