‘Come to terms with your reality,’ ex-NFL player and magician tells safety pros during Opening Session

New Orleans — Jon Dorenbos has celebrated many highs in his life.

But it was tragedy and adversity – and how he dealt with them – that helped the former NFL player, author, motivational speaker and finalist on “America’s Got Talent” (with his unique magic act) “define and refine” his path forward, he told a group of safety professionals Monday during the Opening Session of the 2023 NSC Safety Congress & Expo.

“I’ve had multiple times in my life when my life was out of order,” said Dorenbos, the keynote speaker on the first day of the NSC event. “I believe this: Get the story right in your head, realize that it just takes a minute to look in the mirror and rewrite your story, and put yourself back in order.

“Do it one thought at a time, one word at a time, one sentence at a time. Put yourself back in order. Just as good as new,” he continued as he unveiled a deck of cards with all the suits in order after they had been shuffled.

At age 13, Dorenbos endured the emotional toll of his mother’s murder at the hands of his father. He and his sister ended up in foster care before being taken in by an aunt in Southern California.

During therapy, he was introduced to three life goals he holds onto today.

“Come to terms with your reality,” he said. “It’s only then that we realize with change comes opportunity, both good and bad. It’s up to us to decide: Are we going to find the good or are we going to find the bad?

“Find forgiveness in people and in the world. And, if a little piece of hope or a little piece of happiness floats by, grab that and never let go.”

A young Dorenbos found happiness in magic, as well as the simple act and sounds of shuffling a deck of cards. He described how he took his act all the way to performances on multiple TV shows, including the finals of “America’s Got Talent.”

“I made it to the very end … and lost, to a 12-year-old (girl) with a ukelele,” he quipped.

He was then invited to be part of the show’s World Champions event. “I placed right behind a 14-year-old with a puppet,” he said.

As an NFL long snapper, he set the Philadelphia Eagles’ franchise record with 162 consecutive games played – which has since been surpassed. But he was stunned when the team traded him to the New Orleans Saints during training camp the next summer. He was in New Orleans for four days before learning after a required physical that he needed emergency heart surgery to repair a congenital defect.

Not only did the injury void his contract, but it ended his career immediately.

“I got angry,” he said. “I was bitter.”

A 15-hour surgery corrected the condition, and he redefined his story by understanding he “became hope for other people.”

Dorenbos said: “They’re looking to us for answers on how to do it right. That’s every one of you here.”

When his wife was pregnant with their daughter, he decided to see his father for the first time in 28 years.

“There was this little cloud of hate and bitterness,” he said of visiting and forgiving his dad. “I went there to be a better dad. Every one of us makes a decision to be this much better than we were yesterday. May every one of us show up on time, prepared, and ready to work and give the world everything we’ve got to make this world a better place.”

National Safety Council President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin kicked off the NSC Safety Congress & Expo by welcoming attendees to New Orleans. She encouraged all safety pros to continue making an impact regardless of the challenges they face.

“So much has happened in the world,” Martin said. “The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the way we live and gather, and in many ways, we are still feeling its effects. Something that has never changed, has never wavered, is the dedication of everyone in this room to making people safe.

“Coming together with you all is truly the highlight of my year. When I look across this room – and it’s a pretty impressive room – I don’t just see you. I see the vast network of people’s lives you have affected.”