Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2025

74 75 11TH ASPIRE ACADEMY GLOBAL SUMMIT ASPIRE IN THE WORLD FELLOWS Absolutely. In football, just like in soccer, they are great team sports. It’s not tennis, where you’re alone. You must work as a team. The most successful teams are the ones that understand that. I think leadership must come from within, but there will always be key leadership positions, like quarterback, because you’re talking to everyone on every single play and you can largely determine the outcome of a game. In soccer, I imagine the goalkeeper might be the most critical position. Some goal scorers may disagree, but I would compare the goalkeeper in soccer to the goalie in hockey, often the most important position. Regardless of sport, leadership has to emerge. You must have leadership skills. So, in all team sports, would I champion giving young players the opportunity to take strong leadership courses? When I came into the league in 1973 with the L.A. Rams, I expected some high-tech facility with all this advanced equipment. What we had was mostly dumbbells, weightlifting, bench pressing. I said, “I’m a quarterback, I don’t need to bench press 400 pounds.” So, we began to develop specific programs for quarterbacks and wide receivers. Now, with new technology, you get highly specific programs. It’s not only physical technology; it’s also nutritional technology. When players come in after practice, all their food is specially prepared for them. They walk in and have individualized drinks to replenish their bodies and provide proper nutrition. That part of the game has dramatically changed. It used to be guys eating donuts coming off the practice field or pizza in the morning. With an average career of 3.3 years, you had better bust your tail for those years: commit to proper nutrition, weightlifting, and accepting coaching. If you don’t, you’ll be gone in a heartbeat. I wanted to know about my teammates’ lifestyles, whether they were married or single, had kids, and what was going on in their lives. Here in Philadelphia, we had a Super Bowl team a year ago, and our coach constantly talked about connectivity. That’s what you’re asking about: connectivity. You’ve got guys of different colors, different races, different religions. How do you bring them all together? You have a football team with 53 players and 28 coaches. How do you unify them? You won’t always agree. That’s a given. But connectivity is crucial. No matter what the differences may be, you must connect with your associates whether they’re players, coaches, administrators, or front-office staff. Connect with everyone: a secretary in the ticket office, a trainer, a coordinator. These are team games just like soccer. In American football, I know what is happening on every play because that was my life. I know where everyone is supposed to be and what they’re supposed to do. Learning another sport like soccer, I see similar tactical structures, even if I’m still learning the nuances. It boils down to one thing for me: discipline. Do your job. Be where you’re supposed to be. If you’re supposed to run a 10-yard out route, you’re not supposed to be at nine yards; you’re supposed to be at 10. Ten yards, inside foot plant, break to the outside, ball thrown behind your lead shoulder. I see the same parallels in soccer: you must be in the exact correct position to be successful “Poor preparation means poor performance.” It’s a simple statement I heard frommany coaches. At the end of the day, it’s all about performance. If you don’t put the time in, you won’t be successful. With an average career of 3.3 years, there are college kids lined up to take your job. If you slack off for one minute, you’re out. The young guys are cheaper. The front office will say, “He’s as good as that veteran, and he’ll cost one-tenth as much.” “Thank you for your service” and you’re gone. That’s the reality of the sports business. It is a business. In the NFL, you have long had separate training regimes for different positions. What were the benefits for you of having such specific training? With athletes having different training programs and different ways of living around the sport, did you lead a separate life from your teammates away from the field? NFL games are sometimes called chess matches because of strategy and tactics. Every play is scripted, yet players must adapt in real time. In soccer, strategy is more fluid. What parallels do you see in how coaches can prepare teams for adaptability? As quarterback, you have to read the game under immense pressure. You played in the Super Bowl. How did you manage that pressure and make the correct decisions?