Because my father doesn’t stop.

I’ve been sharing this simple fact with people for decades. For years I’ve seen first hand what his dedication and drive and honesty have meant to both me and the greater Chick-fil-A family. So in a show that focuses on families that make excellence a family tradition, it made sense to include my father right alongside former Texas quarterback and current Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy and his father Brad, as well as Greg McElroy, current quarterback of Alabama, and his father Greg McElroy Sr.

Sure, my dad might not have taught me how to throw touchdown passes, but what he has shared with me has literally impacted the millions of lives that walk through the doors of Chick-fil-A every year.

My dad is the reason the chicken tastes the way it does. My dad is the reason employees believe being behind that counter is a platform of service. My dad is the reason we’ve got WinShape Camps. My dad is the reason that when people visit Chick-fil-A, they feel like they’re part of family, not just having a meal.

My dad’s thumbprint is on everything we do as a company, but more than that, I’ve personally benefitted from his legacy.

My wife and I treasure watching my parents grow a marriage that has long passed the 50-year mark. We feel honored to watch them pass the baton to future generations knowing someday we will too. We feel privileged to receive the wisdom and love they’ve given us all these years.

Because my father doesn’t stop.

As long as I’ve known him and listened to his words, I still find myself learning new things. From a deep well, born from a life lived well, my dad continues to draw truth and hope and kindness that impacts me and Chick-fil-A.

His faith, his heart, his drive. It might not make the top ten plays of the day, but it’s forever changed the way I live and that makes him an all star to me.

I’ve listened to him for decades. I know the when, why and how of the Chick-fil-A story inside and out, but it never fails that every time I hear my dad speak, he shares an idea that hits me in a new way.

This time, it was a truth that’s helped him bring Chick-fil-A to its 42nd straight year of record sales. It was simple. It was honest and it was perfect dad:

‘I had the privilege of growing up in poverty,’ he said.  ‘The blessing is you have to work for a living.’

In a down economy or an up economy, that’s the kind of wisdom that always holds true.