Today Cheryl Hall celebrates a decade of writing Ideas At Work, her Dallas Morning News (reg reqd)column on entrepreneurs. From her column, here's a glimpse of major entrepreneurial moxie:

In 1978, Houston inventor Byron Donzis weaseled his way into the hospital room where Houston Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini was laid up with broken ribs.


Mr. Donzis was wearing a shock-absorbing vest he'd invented. He had a friend pummel his midsection with an aluminum baseball bat as the injured quarterback looked on in amazement.


Mr. Pastorini was so impressed (and so desperate to make a playoff game against the Miami Dolphins) that a week later, he donned the vest and asked Bum Phillips to hit his torso.


Mr. Phillips thought both inventor and player were out of their minds and refused. So Mr. Donzis did the honors.


"He didn't swing like Babe Ruth," the former coach remembered in 1994, "but it was enough to show me that it distributed the impact."


Mr. Pastorini wore the "flak jacket" the following Sunday, won the game and launched Mr. Donzis' career in safety equipment.