How many times have you heard some sports analyst say the following: "This team has the talent to win a championship, but they can't seem to put it together." Quite often, right? We hear it time and time again, especially in the NFL. Each year we hear about how the Cowboys have the talent to win a Super Bowl, yet they never get out of their own way when push comes to shove. How many times have the Chargers been picked to win a Super Bowl or a playoff game and then come up short? The post game reactions are always the same. We listen as pundits claim teams can win if they just stopped making dumb mistakes and showed some discipline, as if a lack of discipline is some small obstacle or inconvenience. But you are what you are, and discipline and focus have as much to do with winning football games as talent does.
I'm not breaking any new ground here by stressing the importance of mentality in sports. We hear the pundits cite these things week after week. However, it's rarely mentioned that these attributes are talents themselves. The ability to pay attention to details and to be sharp mentally can be the difference in whether a team wins or loses, or whether a player succeeds or fails.
During week 3 of the NFL season, no team displayed a lack of discipline as often as the New York Giants did against the Tennessee Titans. For those of you who didn't watch the game, you may be surprised to find out that statistically, New York outplayed Tennessee. Of course, one look at the score and this game looks like a blowout. In the end, The Titans won by 19. But the story of this game was how the Giants beat themselves over and over again. The G-Men turned the ball over twice in the red zone and missed two Field Goals. Making matters worse, they committed 11 penalties, 6 of which were personal fouls. And Special Teams were abysmal once again. The Titans are knows as a chippy team. They like to hit you hard, push and shove after each play, and get inside your head. Well, the Giants made it easy for them. Consistently throughout the game, New York took the bait and committed dumb penalty after dumb penalty. It's hard to make a case for this, but if you really watched this game, you came away thinking the Giants were the better team. But that really counts for nothing, zero.
Problems with discipline can be witnessed with other teams around the league as well. The San Diego Chargers have now lost two games in the first 3 weeks due to poor special teams play. In week one it was letting Dexter McCluster return a punt for a touchdown. In week 3, it was Leon Washington of the Seahawks torching them for 2 kickoff return TD's. Special teams plays are rarely determined by physical talent alone. They are as much about attention to detail and focus as anything. Another team, the Cowboys, beat a Texans team that many have started considering a Super Bowl contender. This is the great contradiction that is the Cowboys. They lose two games to start the season because of dumb penalties and turnovers but then beat what looks like one of the better teams in the NFL. It's no coincidence that the Cowboys and Chargers are always considered contenders but always end up disappointing their fans. Over the past 5 years, these have been two of the most talented teams on paper, but they have nothing to show for it. Again, discipline and focus aren't just small inconveniences that have to be overcome. They are specific talents that can define and be the difference between a contender and a pretender.
This issue can be extended to individuals as well, and I think the best example is the two recent quarterbacks from the University of Southern California. This would of course be Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez. No question that Leinart had the more illustrious college career, collecting a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship in his glory days. To some, he was considered a can't-miss NFL quarterback. Sanchez, on the other hand, was a different story. Even though, he was considered an NFL talent, his own college coach questioned whether he was ready to leave school and enter the draft. How have these two panned out? Leinart has twice failed to win a starting job as a professional quarterback. As of now, he's considered a bust in the NFL. Sanchez, although still relatively early in his career, looks like he's going to be a good quarterback for a long time. That's not to say this can't change, but I really believe the difference between these two is mental discipline. Leinart thought he could mosey his way into the NFL and success would just happen. His talent would be enough. Sanchez knew he had to work for it and that his talent wasn't enough. After a rough regular season in 2009, he played well in the playoffs, and so far so good in 2010. Sanchez was able to battle through adversity. Leinart? He still hasn't figured it out. Again, discipline and focus are talents, and they make the difference between successful careers and disappointing ones.
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