Marcus Miller

[HuskGuys @HuskGuys]

Dylan Raiola's Commitment Video is Legendary

[Billy Oppenheimer @bpoppenheimer]

After his second year at Michigan, Tom Brady wanted to transfer.

He wasn't playing in games, and he was so low on the depth chart that he only got 2 reps in practice.

Brady met with his coach to express his frustration, “The other quarterbacks get all the reps.”

Coach replied,

“Brady, I want you to stop worrying about what all the other players on our team are doing. All you do is worry about what the starter is doing, what the second guy is doing, what everyone else is doing. You don't worry about what you're doing.”

Coach reminded him, “You came here to be the best. If you're going to be the best, you have to beat out the best.”

And then he recommended that Brady start meeting with Greg Harden, a sports psychologist who worked in Michigan's athletic department.

Brady went to Harden's office and whined, “I'm never going to get my chance. They're only giving me 2 reps.”

Harden simply replied, “Just go out there and focus on doing the best you can with those 2 reps. Make them as perfect as you possibly can.”

“So that's what I did,” Brady said. “They'd put me in for those 2 reps, man, I'd sprint out there like it was Super Bowl 39. 'Let's go boys! Here we go! What play we got?'”

“And I started to do really well with those 2 reps. Because I brought enthusiasm, I brought energy.”

Soon, it went from getting 2 reps to getting 4 reps. Then from 4 to 10, “and before you knew it,” Brady said, with this new mindset that Greg instilled in me—to focus on what you can control, to focus on what you're getting, not what anyone else is getting, to treat every rep like it's the Super Bowl—eventually, I became the starter.”

Takeaway 1:

Greg Harden telling Brady to just focus on being great during his 2 reps reminded me of a piece of advice from the entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

“People come to me all the time and tell me they're stuck,” Cuban explained. “They're stuck in a job they don't like. They're stuck working for a boss they don't like. They're stuck on a team they don't like.”

“I just tell them, 'Be great.'”

“The reality of life is that you can't just always quit your job. You can't just always go to your boss and say, 'Give me the promotion, or I'm out of here.'” You can't just always go to your coach and say, 'Give me more reps, or I'm transferring.'

“So when you're stuck, you've gotta find it within yourself to say, 'Ok, this is where I am. And if I'm going to be here, I'm going to be great.'

Because if you're great at your job, typically other people and companies find out, so it creates opportunities.”

Takeaway 2:

I've written before about “lead measures”—the actions and behaviors that predictably drive success.

The core characteristic of a lead measure, the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) write, is that “a lead measure is influenceable; it can be directly influenced by you.”

To achieve your goals, they recommend (echoing what the Michigan Coach told Brady), apply a disproportionate energy to the things that are in your control.

Starting at Michigan and for the rest of his career, that’s what Brady did, that’s what drove his success.

In his first media call after he was selected by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, Brady was asked: “Are you aware that [along with starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe] there’s another quarterback here that they drafted last year?”

Brady said he was aware of that. “And I know he’s a heck of a player,” Brady said. “But I’ve always really concerned myself just with the things I can control. I don’t put a lot of thinking into the other guys because I know I’m not at my best when I’m not just thinking about playing as well as I possibly can.”

- - -

“I never once in my life ever said I wanted to be the best of all time. Ever. I wanted to be the best I could be, period. I learned that in college. It didn’t matter what the other guys were doing. It mattered what I was doing.” — Tom Brady

Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!

[NebGolf @NGAgolf]

“I just went out there, hit some bombs, rolled a couple putts and tallied it up at the end.” - Today’s #NebJuniorAm leader @TeddyPeterson12

[Jake Kniep @Jake_Kniep]

There is nothing more American than the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) @LouStagner]

I live on the east coast.

I LOVE prime time major championship golf.

[westerosies @westerosies]

8 Years Ago Today on Game Of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen became the first dragon rider in over 150 years

[Ryan Whitney @ryanwhitney6]

Imagine turning down 100 million from LIV and your own tour ends up burying you. What a disgrace

[Fore Play @ForePlayPod]

The divot. The guys yelling “SPIN!” The fist pump. The guys carrying each other.

ELECTRIC

[Chris Varney @5chris_varney10]

"Everything you do around here will be earned"

*Except for my son who I named QB1 at my introductory press conference before he even enrolled in the school

[Marcus Miller @marcus10miller]

@coachwetovick

[Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) @LouStagner]

Casual round:
~1%

Member/Guest:
100%

[Fore Play @ForePlayPod]

Hey Rory... We like seeing bogeys! Birdies aren't cool when everyone's making them!

@Daniel_Rapaport

[Marcus Miller @marcus10miller]

@CoachB_Johnsen You’re kidding

[Marcus Miller @marcus10miller]

@BuschBeer #MountainOfBusch #Sweepstakes

[Kyle Porter @KylePorterNS]

What are the best “what ifs” in golf history?

[Dan Rapaport @Daniel_Rapaport]

It’s officially Tiger szn.

The man with 15 major championships and a bionic leg will grace our television screens three consecutive weeks leading up to Christmas.

What a time to be alive.

[ESPN Fantasy Sports @ESPNFantasy]

Isaiah McKenzie going off on your bench 😭

[FanDuel Sportsbook @FDSportsbook]

Russell Wilson tonight:

[Marcus Miller @marcus10miller]

I don’t know what that means but after what I witnissed tonight it seems fitting. #ihatesports

[Skip Bayless @RealSkipBayless]

Tonight Russell Wilson often made Baker Mayfield look like Tom Brady.

[College Sports Only @CSOonX]

Nebraska fans are taking things well.