Tom Brady: The G.O.A.T

Super Bowl 51 was a great example of how if you trust the process and believe in yourself you can achieve even if the odds are against you. Tom Brady & the New England Patriots provided the sporting world of what it is like to have the Warrior Spirit.

What this means is if you if you focus after the little things & if you are doing the little things right then the score will take care of itself.

Below is a formula for greatness which is fitting as now everyone is saying Tom Brady is the greatest football player of all time.

Passion + time + energy + work ethic + persistence + drive + belief + ambition + risk taking + resilience + learning + attitude = Marginal gains.

Marginal gains lead to small wins.

Small wins collected together = greater gains.

Greater gains lead to big wins

Big wins collected together = success

Success X success = Greatness

Where the Warrior Spirit can take years to develop and the Patriots performance was a great example of how trusting the process can be so effective.

The Warrior Spirit is a player or a team who:

“Exhibits controlled emotions and clear decision making in times of chaos and pressure; who can continue to improve and master the art of technical ability and tactical understanding; who can fight through any challenge and hardship physiologically and psychologically; who encompasses and demonstrates selflessness and humility.”

If we break this down and look at Brady and why he has the Warrior Sprit

1. Exhibits controlled emotions and clear decision making in times of chaos and pressure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puxt_xUTQxY

At the start of this interview Brady says ‘this is exactly how we didn’t plan it’ which means there is a lot of chaos as they haven’t prepared for something like this to happen. Being in a 25 point hole and with it being a super bowl final and the record of being a 5 time champion something no one has ever done before adds to this pressure. A big part of the Patriots & Tom Brady’s success in Super Bowl 51 was to ‘control emotions and have clear decision making in times of chaos and pressure’

Being able to channel this focus, energy and control emotions at this level takes as many reps as it does to work in the gym, or on the practice field. Sport is split in to 4 very broad areas:

Technical
Tactical
Physical
Mental

If you watch this video: a lot Brady’s coaches & teammates talk about how competitive Brady is & the video highlights the moments of ‘loud noises’ and lots of shouting. People think that if you show behaviors like this then it shows that you are competitive. A lot of the time this is just player or athletes putting on a front or an act. In this video what you see here is Brady releasing the emotions & energy that he has to control when being in the middle of the field as quarter back. His mind has to be so focused & unlike most players on the field he can’t channel his energy, aggression or emotions in to the contact area, which going back many many years is a very animalistic way of dealing with these built up feelings.

This control that Brady exhibits is also why when the final touchdown got scored a lot of the New England players were running round, bouncing helmet’s and celebrating in a physical way. Brady is still very much in control of his emotions and is able to hold his emotions until afterwards when he knows that his job is finally complete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iG2I9YsFwY - 5 min 8 seconds

2. who can continue to improve and master the art of technical ability and tactical understanding

Tactical – Bill Belichick “you can’t BS your way through a meeting with Tom Brady, He’s seen all the tape he’s studied all the film, It really forces you as a coach to be well prepared to make sure that you can really give him information that is helpful not things that he’s already seen.”

Technical – In super bowl 51 Brady completed 43 passes out of 62, giving him a pass completion rate in the Super Bowl that was higher than his 2016 average.

3. who can fight through any challenge and hardship physiologically and psychologically

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-snDaUVYs – 5 minutes 6 seconds

Bill Belichick talks about how his players ‘compete’. ‘they were down 28-3 and they never looked back’ ‘ they just keep competing’

Not only this; Brady has been though a lot this year with his mum battling Breast Cancer

“You know, my mom has been dealing with some health issues. Those are personal things that our family’s dealing with. You know, there’s a lot of families that are affected by certain things like that. You just wish for the best for everybody and same with my family.” - http://ijr.com/2017/02/795102-the-only-game-tom-bradys-mom-made-it-to-this-season-was-super-bowl-li-now-we-know-why/

4. who encompasses and demonstrates selflessness and humility.