The other day I was watching the Tampa Bay Bucs, quarterbacked by Tom Brady. He’s known as the GOAT because of his many Super Bowl rings and his overall domination as a QB. Side note, it’s also really cool that he seems to be such a family man. After the game in his post game interview on the field he said hey to his kids and something like, Dad loves you! I thought that was so humble and real. OK, OK, back to the point of this post. During the game he had great throws, as usual. But I saw something I’ve never seen a quarterback do. I’m not saying they don’t do it, I just can’t recall ever seeing it happen in a game.
To set it up, QBs for have helmets with communication devices so they can hear coaches from the sidelines. It helps in loud environments. The playcall comes in to a little headset (I don’t know the exact specifics) and the QB then relays the call to the rest of the team in the huddle. Well, on one particular play Brady was just outside the huddle, looking over at the sidelines as he presumably heard what they were calling through his helmet. I believe it was a third down, but no matter what, it was in a time of the game where the upcoming play was very important. The Bucs needed a first down. All of the sudden Brady with some fire says, “No! No!” He was telling the playcaller on the sideline the called play was not what he wanted to run. He must’ve got a call he approved of because he joined the huddle and relayed the plan.
Set. Hike. He received the snap, threw the ball to a receiver and they got the first down.
I was SO impressed. It wasn’t about the play that was called, although it was successful. It was how Brady was a leader, demanding a play that he knew would work. When the first few calls came in, he rejected them. Of course, young quarterbacks probably wouldn’t risk this kind of behavior but it’s Brady we’re talking about.
Have you ever noticed something like this in sports? Whether it’s football or any other competition, sometimes the player in the game knows better what will work and in Brady’s case, I’d say go with whatever he wants to do. After all, he’s the GOAT, ya know.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 