few people understand it the way a quarterback does.
let me explain.
two examples of this point are both quarterbacks in the nfl but they couldn't be more different. tom brady is a three-time superbowl champion and potentially the best quarterback in nfl history. and brodie croyle? he's with a kansas city chiefs backing up the former back-up for tom brady.
tom brady was drafted out of the university of michigan in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, 199th overall. coming out of college, he was the fourth-string quarterback for the new england patriots behind drew bledsoe and two other names you've never heard of. by the end of his rookie season, he only took three snaps under center and only completed one pass. but he earned the second-string spot. in his second year, two games into the season, bledsoe goes down hard with what gets discovered to be a collapsed lung and massive internal bleeding. brady steps in. and wins 11 of 14 games he starts that year. in his first playoff game, he throws 312 yards and overcomes a 10 point deficit in the 4th to win the game in overtime. he won the superbowl that year and was mvp, mostly due to a final drive to win the game without any timeouts left and roughly 60 yards in just about a minute of playing time. what happened throughout his career after that game is pretty common knowledge. the two additional superbowl wins, countless records shattered, supermodel wife, it's all there and you've heard it. but that final drive back in 2001 is what we're going to look at.
brodie croyle went to the university of alabama and was drafted in 2006 in the third round, 85th overall. coming out of college, he had some great expectations and loads of potential. in his senior year, he set the record for yards passing at alabama, won the cotton bowl and was co-mvp, and had one hell of a rocket for an arm. his rookie year in the nfl didn't have much playing time or action but he became the starter in his second year after damon huard went down. not much happened that year with the kansas city chiefs, in terms of winning. but the world learned a lot about brodie croyle in a similar situation to the one tom brady was in just six years before. no one expected croyle to do much with the fairly weak group around him but he had the pieces in place to at least put up some points. larry johnson in the backfield, a decent offensive line, dwayne bowe and sammie parker running receiver routes. he had some options. but in the second preseason game that year, he took two steps forward only to take three steps back minutes later.
tom brady had some options in the final drive of his first superbowl. he could run out the clock and put the game in the hands of his defensive teammates, who had held the "greatest show on turf" superbowl champion st. louis rams to only 17 points. he went the other way. before running out to the field, he went to his coach and said something great, "i want the ball. let's end this." in what could have been the first superbowl to go to overtime, one player decided to go all-in and win, not just play to not lose. the rest is history.
in brodie croyle's second year, in the second preseason game, he led the chiefs down the field with an impressive drive that led to a pretty epic touchdown pass. he had been competing with damon huard for the starting position all offseason and coach herm edwards challenged them both to "take the position" if they wanted it. this drive, croyle later said, was his response to his coach. but what happened next was key. on the following drive, with a chance to score and put the game away for a win, croyle dropped back from center. the same routes as before, dwayne bowe was wide open for the first down. even sammie parker was in coverage but ably open. croyle gets a little pressure as the pocket starts to collapse and rolls out to his left, somehow breaking a tackle and buying a couple extra seconds to scan the field. he rolls to his left and does a full 360 spin. at this point, sammie parker is open with the full field ahead of him empty and the endzone in sight. dwayne bowe has broken coverage and is easily a strong "checkdown" pass away for a first down. croyle has options and he's just broken two tackles and rolled out in the way you would have seen steve young do it years before. his next move? an impulsive throw immediately once out of the pocket that got intercepted. the game was over after an easy chip-shot field goal. he won and lost the game that day and on consecutive drives.
stress is a funny thing and few people understand it in the way quarterback does.
a cluster of three-hundred pound animals chasing you down, salivating at the chance to rip you apart, it's just something you don't get in the rest of the world.
tom brady and brodie croyle both saw it in those games. one performed. the other didn't.
it's the difference between running for your life, just dumping the ball off at the first opportunity and dropping back to a standstill, planting your feet, scanning the field, stepping into a pass, willing the ball where it needs to go. it's the difference between keeping your hand steady and letting it shake.
life is all about pressure, i think. it's all about how you handle it.
and i realized the other night, maybe for the first time, i'm getting older. and faster than i ever thought i would.
i'm at the point in my life where you start crossing things off the list, realizing there are things you'll just never get to do, men you'll just never get to become.
but i've got options.
and i just don't shake.
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