What Makes The Best of The Best?

What Makes The Best of The Best?

Consistency is the significant difference between the good and the great coaches, players and teams. Those who compete at the highest level on a consistent basis are the legendary and iconic figures in the game like Peyton Manning, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor and Jerry Rice.

Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden was amazed at Rice's consistency and work ethic, which he observed firsthand when they were both with the Oakland Ra

"I had never seen anything like the work ethic of this thirty-nine-year-old Hall of Famer-in-waiting. He would get our practice scripts, and through every second of the pre-practice stretch, he would have a coach quiz him on the pass routes we were going to run that day. Between every period he would be off to the side, on one knee, concentrating and studying the next grouping of plays we were going to run. He hated making mistakes. He had so much pride in getting every detail right; it was amazing."

Anyone who has the physical prowess necessary to compete has the ability to perform at the highest levels of his ability once in a while, but it is the one-play warrior who stands out among everyone else – the one who brings his best every play and every time he puts the helmet on. That is the guy who will make the biggest impact on his team, in his school, and who will ultimately have the greatest career.

Demanding the best possible performance from your body is a characteristic of all great athletes. However, physical development to your peak potential does not come cheap.

The most competitive athletes invest significant amounts of time and energy into the many grueling hours it takes to train their bodies for performance at the highest levels of football. The off-season workouts of Jerry Rice are something of legend and something that you will research on YouTube and use as motivation if you want to get the most out of your career.

The greatest players and teams in football are aware of something that you might not realize: If you want to be the best of the best, doing the physical training is simply not enough.

Legendary NFL head coach, owner, and Hall of Famer Paul Brown knew this very well. According to Brown:

"The best teams were first and foremost made up of quality people. He was convinced that with diligence, wisdom and teamwork, an assemblage of average players formulated from high-character individuals could – while working in unison as a close-knit crew – achieve much greater success than a group of all-star individuals who were incapable of functioning in harmony."

Brown and other great champions know that mental conditioning is essential in order to develop a psychological edge over their greatest competitors and give them the confidence to turn it loose and play carefree.

The greatest competitors understand that peak performance occurs only when the body and the mind are working together to maximize their performance potential. Thus, the best of the best know that mental conditioning is as vital to their success as physical conditioning.