By Troy Vincent
NFL Player Engagement
“Focusing is the great secret of power.” – Stephen Richards, author of The Ultimate Focus Builder
We often talk about all the things we are going to do in the “offseason.” For many student-athletes, however, there is no “offseason.” You may not be playing your sport, but the so-called offseason is a time of revitalization, preparation, resting the body from the sport, but keeping in shape, working on those things that need improvement, and overall preparation. In short, the offseason is not a time to take a vacation, but rather a time to focus. One man knows this very well as his “focus” was a life changer.
On February 3, 2008, David Tyree became a household name in Super Bowl lore because of what became known as “The Catch.” With a minute and 15 seconds left in Super Bowl XLII, Giants quarterback Eli Manning dodged tackles and scrambled to throw an off-balance 32 yard pass. The receiver, David Tyree, describes the event, “If I missed this ball, our team may not have had time to recover. The game would have been over. Everyone was depending on me, and I could not let them down. All I could think was, ‘By any means necessary!’ ...Only a few seconds went by, but in my mind, the play seemed to be running in slow motion as I reached up and behind my head to get the catch. Touching the ball with my fingers and pinning it to my helmet, I was determined to hold on.” The Giants went on to score and to win with less than a minute on the clock.
David says that “The Catch” was the culmination of 28 years of physical, mental, and spiritual preparation – that’s a lot of in-season time and offseason time to get that kind of focus at that specific point for that second in time.
When we talk about the offseason, the word “focus” must be part of the conversation. It is a time when the natural thing to do is to let down. The smart thing to do is to focus. If we can use the offseason to focus on improving our game, our grades, and our relationships, the next natural step is for that type of focus to translate on the field and to the way we play.
The offseason is what you make of it. Focus on the physical, mental, and spiritual things that make success the natural conclusion both on the field and in the game of life.