Hope everyone is having a good week! First lesson learned from Super Bowl Sunday: If your team isn’t in it, it’s a lot less entertaining. I am pretty sure I had near heart attacks last year watching the Giants’ unbelievable playoff run and Super Bowl win.
The other day Corey (Winkoff) had mentioned something interesting to me that he had heard on ESPN radio on his morning commute to the office. Trent Dilfer had said that he believed the Ravens played “beyond the Xs and Os” during their Super Bowl run.
I couldn’t agree more with Dilfer, mainly because this is a concept that applies to all sports, not just football. The Ravens had two main things going for them, in my opinion: Emotions and Confidence. Obviously, it was important for everyone on the team to send Ray Lewis out with a Super Bowl win to end his incredible 17 year career with the Ravens (say what you want about the guy but he is easily in the top 3 linebackers to ever play the game). But the overwhelmingly apparent difference between the Ravens and the 49ers in that game was the level of confidence. While the niners were lining up in illegal formations on the very first play of the game, the Ravens were calling fake field goals on 4th and 9’s and being extremely aggressive in their play calling. Even when the 49ers scored 24 un answered points, the Ravens kept their cool, relied on their fundamentals, and got the win in the end.
All great athletes, both past and current, play well beyond what they are taught by their coaches (the Xs and Os). They fully invest themselves and their emotion in the team and allow the passion that they feel for the sport that they play to guide them to success on game day. All athletes also seem to have an un-shakable high level of confidence. They don’t let one bad play or one bad game to make them question themselves as individuals. They have full confidence in themselves and their abilities to produce on game day and help their team win. Without confidence, you’re not going to be able to take your game to the next level, period.
Go Giants,
