The Art of Manliness · The Art of Manliness

Men Don't Run in the Rain — And 7 Other Essential Lessons for Being a Man

June 10, 2025·53 min·5 clips

Rick Burgess reveals why his father taught him that men should never run in the rain, even during a downpour.

Rick Burgess describes his father Bill as a man who seemed seven feet tall despite being under six feet — always in tube socks, athletic tape on his whistle, bike coaching shorts, and a team cap — whose uniform expressed a philosophy of function over self-presentation and hard work over appearances. The title phrase, men don't run in the rain, originated when a childhood friend noticed Bill walking through a downpour without picking up his pace, and Bill later explained it to a young Rick by stopping him mid-sprint: the rain is not going to hurt you, men should not be frantic, and steadiness in small things communicates steadiness in everything. Rick draws a parallel to Nassim Taleb's principle of not running for trains: both express that agency and composure, not urgency, define how a serious man moves through the world. Bill coached both Rick and his brother at Oxford High School and maintained strict separation between his role as father and role as coach, never discussing player performance at home and never giving his sons preferential treatment or public praise. The nobody cares about last year lesson came when Bill pulled Rick from the starting lineup on the first day of junior-year two-a-days, sending the message that prior performance does not entitle anyone to future opportunity — a principle Rick has applied to his radio career, willingly submitting to audience research after thirty-one years on air and starting fresh at sixty. The episode covers the distinction between confidence and arrogance, the importance of men taking full responsibility without making excuses, and the imperative to get out of the stands and stop spectating your own life. Rick discusses the death of his young son Bronner, a drowning accident that tested every lesson his father had given him about maintaining composure and faith during catastrophic loss, noting that Bill's modeling of steadiness under pressure was the template he had available when his own worst moment arrived.

As heard by us

A blunt case for common sense as a real advantage.

Rick Burgess frames his father's coaching as a plain argument for common sense: think ahead, stay smart, and avoid the small mistakes that turn into larger problems later.

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Why you'd press play

When you want football wisdom that turns "don't be stupid" into everyday judgment.

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