Hammad

No Excuses

[The Vigilant Fox 🦊 @VigilantFox]

Tom Brady reveals the overlooked reason practice squad players never succeed in the NFL

It’s not a lack of talent.

Brady watched it happen for 20 years. The pattern was undeniable.

As soon as a practice squad player got promoted and had to perform under real pressure, they crumbled. It took years for Brady to understand why.

“There’s 53 guys on the active roster and there’s now 15 guys on the practice squad. So there’s 68 players. But those practice squad players are important because if anybody on the active roster gets hurt, they can get elevated to the squad.”

“These scout team receivers would come in and practice with the scout team and they do really well. And I’d be watching. I’m like, ‘Man, we got to get that guy. Let’s get him up on offense. He’s making a lot of plays.’”

“Then all of a sudden, we’re like, ‘Hey man, you’re doing really well. You got to come over here and deal with the pressure of succeeding now that you have expectation.’”

“And these guys are like, they weren’t prepared for it. So whatever we saw in practice against where there was not a lot of pressure, now when they’re put in a situation where there’s an expectation for performance, they’ve never had to personally deal with that and then they fail.”

“And then what I realized was a lot of guys on those practice squads, they don’t want to be elevated to the roster.”

“They’re very happy living this life where they could tell their family and friends, which I have no problem with that. But the reality is a lot of guys don’t want the pressure of dealing with top.”

Twenty years in the league and seven Super Bowl rings later, Brady learned that talent wasn’t the hardest thing to find.

It was people who actually wanted the pressure that comes with being great.

[Hammad @hammadr901]

@funnydanny 💯

[NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA]

The new-look Wizards 🪄

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[Brad Lea @TheRealBradLea]

You’ll pay the price either way:

Building someone else’s
dream OR chasing your own.

One has safety.
The other has risk.

Both have a cost.
Only one sets you free.

[Washington Commanders @Commanders]

The ultimate honor for an ultimate player

[Earvin Magic Johnson @MagicJohnson]

Just like I thought, when the Celtics sold for $6B, I knew the Lakers were worth $10B!

https://t.co/APreKgzNxb

[DC Defenders @UFLDefenders]

Y’all remember this one?

[DC Defenders @UFLDefenders]

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!! 🏆

DC IS TAKING HOME THE UFL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

[United Football League @TheUFL]

DC TAKES THE CROWN 👑

[DC Defenders @UFLDefenders]

TAKE THE TAG OFF!

2025 UFL CHAMPIONS!!!!

[United Football League @TheUFL]

THE DC DEFENDERS ARE THE 2025 UFL CHAMPIONS!

[Primerica @Primerica]

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[Hammad @hammadr901]

@JonErlichman @elonmusk @grok what is the stock performance of Primerica in the last 15 years

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians gathered at aid distribution sites run by a US-backed group in southern and central Gaza.

🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: https://t.co/rcFL0pUZom

[Inky Johnson @inkyjohnson]

Be Intentional!

[John Cusack @johncusack]

Gaza is being annihilated.
Thousands upon thousands of children are dead. Entire bloodlines erased. And the United States is the supplier, sponsor, and shield of the killing.

Netanyahu is not a defender.
He’s a butcher.
A fascist running from jail who’s building his legacy on mass graves.

Trump is insane .
Biden enabled it all .
Harris went with him.

This isn’t “complicated.”
It’s calculated.
You don’t “accidentally” flatten hospitals, starve cities, bomb refugees in tents or bomb convoys labeled UN. You do that when you know you’ll get away with it. And the U.S. ensures these crimes continue.
Every liberal who says “I don’t support Netanyahu but…” Every progressive who “wishes for peace” but won’t say the word occupation— You’re complicit. You are lubricating the machine of murder with your cowardice.

And don’t dare hide behind antisemitism to justify silence.
Antisemitism is real.
But using it to silence truth while bombs fall on children is a grotesque betrayal of every moral code.

Criticizing a government that carries out war crimes is not hate.
It’s obligation.

And if your politics can’t confront genocide, then your politics are trash:

No more money.
No more bombs.
No more fake neutrality.
No more bipartisan War Inc gorging on profits wrapping themselves in flags .

You are either against genocide. Or you are part of it.

Now pick a side.

[John Keim @john_keim]

Source confirms that Washington will host the 2027 NFL draft. @axios first reported. An official announcement expected Monday

[Steve Harvey @IAmSteveHarvey]

The journey ain’t easy, but the destination is worth it. Keep pushin’, even when it don’t make sense.