Brownsville native publishes book
Nationally known sports psychologist, performance consultant and motivational speaker, Dr. Kevin Elko, a former resident of Brownsville, recently published his first motivational book entitled “Nerves of Steel,” which features steps needed to improve one’s focus, attitude and performance in everyday living. Elko, a 1976 graduate of Brownsville Area High School, who devotes the majority of his lectures to professional athletes, business professionals and homemakers, says that when many individuals first meet him, the first words out of their mouth are, “You’re a shrink.”
“I’m not a shrink; that’s what proctologists do,” rebuts Elko with a laugh. “I expand (the mind). I’m a psychologist.”
Elko earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and coaching education from California University of Pennsylvania. He then moved to West Virginia University where he received a master’s degree in counseling, a master’s in sports psychology, a graduate certificate in gerontology, and a doctorate in education with a major emphasis in sports and education.
Elko, a former linebacker for the Brownsville Falcons, says he always had a love for sports and since he never became a professional athlete, he decided that he would use his career as a counselor to help athletes be able to face challenges in today’s world.
“National Football League (NFL) players at first are the most difficult individuals to work with,” said Elko, an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“When I signed on to consult with the Dallas Cowboys, running back Emmitt Smith can up to me and said, ‘This is the last time you’ll talk to me.’ Now, Emmitt and I are close friends.”
Smith even has a testimonial quote on the back cover of “Nerve’s of Steel.” It reads: “Kevin Elko has shown my team and me how to motivate oneself for emotional balance so we do not become too high or too low, but stay focused on the present game situation.”
“It took three years for Emmitt (Smith) to come around,” Elko said. Elko, 43, notes that even though Smith is a veteran in the NFL, older athletes needs consulting just as much as first or second year players.
In a Feb. 23, 2001, CNN Sports Illustrate article featured on their Web site, Elko discusses psychological tests that he has performed on players throughout the league. “The attributes that make good football players aren’t necessarily the ones that make good employees in other fields.
“Football is not a game for the well adjusted. If you’re well adjusted you don’t want to go out and slam someone down just because they work for someone else. The question is, how does a player handle his craziness?”
Elko says the tests that he performs on the players help teams understand the standards a player uses to guide his life both on and off the field.
“For older athletes they may find that after accumulating financial security, certain acquaintances may want to borrow money from the them for example,” said Elko. “They don’t need distractions, they need to invest their money and stay focused with their spirituality and family.”
This according to Elko was never more prevalent than when he interviewed St. Louis Rams Pro Bowl wide receiver Torry Holt to see how he dealt with the adversity of a separated shoulder.
“I asked him how he could continue to play and he said, ‘I told myself that my mother went to work with cancer for six years and never missed a day,” Elko said in the CNN Sports Illustrated article.
Elko said that he ended the interview there, “We’re trying to determine character more than anything else, and I never had another question about his.”
According to Elko, younger athletes need to stay focused on the same issues as older athletes, but also on their work, because playing professional sports may only be a one-year thing.
“Money pulls you in different directions,” said Elko. “Younger athletes have decisions to make as well, such as, do they buy a house or do they rent a condo? The younger athletes have to stay focused and put their heart into their work.”
Adds Elko, “I always tell everyone I speak to that the key to anything in life is a moment. You just have to look for it. That moment could come from a great play or an accomplishment.”
Or that moment could even be something simpler notes Elko.
Elko reflects on a special moment he shared with his daughter when he recently returned home to Bridgeville from one of the 300 seminars a year he attends.
“I had taken my two-year-old daughter, Claire, to Idlewild Park. She was playing on the swings when she asked me to play with her,” he says. “That was a great moment.”
Elko states you just have to look for the moments, because self-pity is one of today’s toughest challenges in society.
“People have the desire to feel sorry for themselves,” says Elko. “Whether they are parents, a member of a team, or an individual whose health isn’t the same. Self pity is the number one challenge in today’s world.”
In “Nerves of Steel,” Elko discusses how to deal with such challenges by using specific self-talk and how to identify your internal voice of judgment (V.O.J.) and also how to internally respond to it.
Barry Knight, senior vice president and director of sales development and training for Pioneer Mutual Funds, states in a testimonial regarding “Nerves of Steel” that the book was “life changing and powerful. The definitive recipe for ongoing success,” Knight said. “The lessons and life strategies contained within ‘Nerves of Steel’ go far beyond making you more successful in the workplace and on the field, they provide a recipe for greater peace, success and happiness in life.”
Elko stresses in the introduction to “Nerves of Steel” that “one’s ability to focus through adversity, be creative and maintain motivation, all factors that are referred to as having nerves of steel, has been known to have a significant influence on one’s success and satisfaction.”
In “Nerves of Steel” Elko also reflects upon his experience with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and how they affected the lives of many Merril Lynch personnel and their families who suffered loss in the tragedy.
Elko who consults Merril Lynch employees regularly, quickly offered his services to the financial brokerage company to perform critical stress counseling.
“I cried when I was finished, but my tears felt good because they were tears from kindness and resolve of the ordinary people who were put through extraordinary circumstances.
“Once again I found the human spirit is an incredible thing,” Elko states in “Nerves of Steel.”
Elko has consulted with a number of companies including Travelers Insurance Co.; The Young Presidents Organization; Smith Kline Beecham Consumer Brands; Abbot Diagnostics; Prudential Securities; Solomon, Smith, Barney; Merril Lynch; Pioneer Investments; and the Israel Wingate Institute; University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department; University of Miami Football; the Pittsburgh Penguins; the Dallas Cowboys; the New Orleans Saints.
To order your copy of “Nerves of Steel,” which Elko co-wrote with Stephen Finn, visit the book’s Web site at www.nervesofsteel.net.