I always forget how great the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony typically is until I tune in each year. The best part is seeing these guys reminisce and pay homage to all their former teammates. Football is the most
I always forget how great the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony typically is until I tune in each year. The best part is seeing these guys reminisce and pay homage to all their former teammates.
Football is the most true “team” sport in major athletics, because one player is so dependent on what is happening on the rest of the field.
But amid his thanking others on Saturday, Jerry Rice provided one of the day’s most interesting moments, as he talked about how his biggest motivator throughout his career was actually fear.
He said that though he wasn’t the biggest or fastest, it was the fear of failure that made him great.
It struck me because it reeked of sincerity. He admitted that after games he would dwell on the plays he could have made, rather than the three touchdowns he may have scored.
It struck me because here was the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the best pure football players ever saying that fear was the biggest contributor to his success.
Those words railed against one of the most widely used sports clichés in existence: “You can’t be afraid to make mistakes.”
This is what kids are told from a young age in sports, that they should never be afraid of failure, or success, for that matter. It’s a hard concept to comprehend early on, becoming clearer later in life.
Yet here is this amazing player saying that he was always terrified of what could go wrong.
Compare that with a Michael Jordan quote: “Any fear is an illusion… I think fear sometimes comes from a lack of focus or concentration.”
Well then, arguably the two greatest to ever lace ‘em up have seemingly diametrically opposed views when it comes to a basic tenant of sports psychology.
It’s weird, but it’s something we have become used to in sports, even if we don’t fully realize it.
The world of conflicting sports clichés is an expanding one, a world we live in every day.
“Defense wins championships,” but “the best defense is a good offense.”
We have to “play within ourselves,” but we also need to “take our game to the next level.”
Supposedly ”practice makes perfect,” however “game speed” is something that just can’t be simulated.
A team needs to “up their intensity in the playoffs,” while also “treating it just like any other game.”
They need to “learn from their mistakes,” but they have to “put that five-game losing streak out of their minds.”
One bounce of the ball can alter a team or player’s identity from “old” to “experienced.”
A trailing team “needs to make some adjustments,” but they can’t “change what got them here.”
There is “no such thing as a moral victory,” but that team can “leave with its head held high.”
“Nobody believed in us,” but “we have the best fans in the world.”
It seems like the only determining factor between a player “giving his all” and “pressing” is the outcome.
“We’re going to savor this victory,” but “we need to forget about this win quickly and focus on next week.”
OK, you get it.
Reading this over again, I can admit that it may not have been the best column I’ve ever written, but I came out and gave it my best.
I need to just figure out what I might have done wrong, at the same time putting it completely out of my mind, then focus on next week, step up my game, stay within my routine, shake things up, not try to do too much and give it anywhere from 110 to 150 percent.
