HDEU for me started my junior year at the University of North Carolina. I was injured during the very first game of the season (a season during which I was expected to be one of the top players on our team) and I was left with an ankle that needed rehab and a heart and mind that were crushed.
I was in the weight room at the beginning of my rehab and I looked up into the mirror to see myself in a way that I had never seen myself before. I looked mad. Not “mad at the world” or even mad at my situation – mad like the man in the mirror craved only one result: Victory.
Going into my senior year I was finally healthy again ready to play and I got a phone call from my mom. I picked up the phone and my mom just says my name and her voice is really shaky. She says, “Chase come home. Dad died.” I didn’t know how he died, I didn’t know what happened but I got in my truck and drove home.
Coming back from that injury I knew I could heal, I knew I could fix my leg, I knew I could rehab. But something like losing your dad is not something you can just rehab from. It takes time. That whole fall my mentality had to kick in even more. Head Down Eyes Up…Keep Going.
When I graduated from college and started writing songs, I wrote the letters H D E U on a hat. I wanted to have that on me to always remind myself “Head Down Eyes Up.” I wanted to always see those letters. Whether life’s good. Whether life's bad. Everyone’s telling you how good you are. Everyone’s telling you how much you suck. For me it’s all about the idea: If you keep the mentality, Head Down Eyes Up…Keep Going…Who can stop you? It’s as simple as that.
From that day on, “Head Down Eyes Up” became my personal motto; my way of life to succeed not by looking at an end result, but by fighting every step of the way, focusing only on each moment in front of me. Through it all, I've kept my head down and my eyes up, and they are locked in on every small step of the way that leads to victory.
Head Down Eyes Up…Keep Going.
- Chase Rice
SNAPBACK HAT
JOURNEY RISK TRUE x HEAD DOWN EYES UP
This represents more than just a collaboration of two brands. It is a shared identity of two individuals that have overcome difficult times and climbed their way to the top of their respected professions. Telling their own stories... KEEP GOING
@journeyrisktrue x @headdowneyesup
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