SUCCESS STORY
Tom Brady and Desirable Difficulties
By Jeremy Tutt | Journalism Major, Communications Minor
With 58 seconds remaining on the clock, a 4-year-old Tom Brady and his father are sitting just behind the end zone at Candlestick Park. The San Francisco 49ers are down 21–27 to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship. Joe Montana takes the snap from the 6-yard-line. Montana scrambles to his right and with three Dallas defenders in his face completes a pass to Dwight Clark in the back of end zone to take the lead (The Brady 6). Joe Montana wasn’t the most athletic, didn’t have the best arm and did not look the part of a NFL quarterback. Despite this, Joe Montana won four Super Bowls and is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Tom Brady, like Montana, also isn’t the most athletic. In fact, he is probably the least athletic quarterback in the history of the NFL. He looks like anything but an NFL quarterback, and high school, college and NFL coaches all overlooked Brady for this reason, but Tom Brady is one of the all-time great quarterbacks, perhaps the greatest. His story is a true success story. Tom Brady is perhaps the greatest quarterback of all-time because he has the desirable difficulty of having a chip on his shoulder, he is gritty and he works harder than any other quarterback.
Tom Brady sits on the bench while he watches his freshman high school football team lose their last game of the season. Brady is used to this sight, he has been the 2nd string quarterback all year on a team that never won a game. “The team didn’t score a touchdown. And he wasn’t deemed good enough to play one offensive play as a quarterback.” said his father, Tom Brady, Sr. When his senior year came around, not many colleges came knocking (The Brady 6).
The University of Michigan did invite Brady to play football for them, along with the six other quarterbacks on their depth chart. His freshman year no one thought Brady would eventually become the starter. By his sophomore year he was battling senior Brian Griese for the starting spot. Aaron Shea played with Brady at Michigan and his friend to this day. “Griese and Tommy, they were tied, I mean they were neck and neck” said Shea. Coach Lloyd Carson gave seniority to the senior, Brian Griese. Once again Tom Brady was passed up (The Brady 6).
His junior year Brady started every game, winning ten of them. But when his senior year rolled around, he once again had to battle for his job. This time it would be with a freshman phenom, Drew Henson. “He has incredible talents. I mean faster than I was, stronger, quicker, more elusive, you know better arm” said Brady. All year Brady and Henson split time despite Brady’s experience and his leadership role on the team. Time and again Brady pulled the Wolverines out of the hole Henson dug for them and earned himself sole possession of the starting job. In his final game at Michigan, Brady and the Wolverines defeated Alabama in the Orange Bowl, in a comeback, overtime victory to prompt Brady’s legacy as the comeback kid (The Brady 6). In back-to-back seasons Brady captained and led his team to significant accomplishments, with his spectacular play and valuable leadership being the reason why.
With his college career in the books Brady enters the 2000 NFL draft. He doesn’t have the strongest arm. He didn’t win the national championship. He for sure was not the most athletic. For these reasons, Brady fell all the way to the 6th round of a draft where there are only seven rounds. Six quarterbacks were selected before him (The Brady 6). Once again, people overlooked Tom Brady.
When someone is passed up on and told they aren’t good enough, it creates what sports fans like to call “a chip on their shoulder.” In his book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell addresses what he calls an “undesirable difficulty.” Gladwell best illustrates this theory by telling the story of Emil Freireich.
Emil “Jay” Freireich lost his father at a young age. His mother worked constantly to support the family. Despite this, Jay Freireich became a doctor who made ground-breaking medical findings in treating leukemia. What occurred to Dr. Freireich as a young boy is something Gladwell refers to as a “remote miss.” “Parents are essential. Losing a father or a mother is the most devastating thing that can happen to a child” (Gladwell, David and Goliath 142). Losing a parent can send a child down a dark path in life, but in Dr. Freireich’s case, it made him stronger.
The University of California Los Angeles conducted an experiment to find if verbal redundancy when learning could be a desirable difficulty[v1] . Having to read something different from what you are hearing can be more difficult to do. They found that by changing what you had to read slightly from what you heard, performance increased (Yue, E. Bjork and R. Bjork). This study helped prove a major point that there are such things as desirable difficulties.
Much like Jay Freireich and the subjects of the study at UCLA, Tom Brady’s hardships have turned out to be advantages. Had he had things handed to him in life the results could have been different. But instead, all the times coaches passed on Tom Brady, it only motivated him more and made him work harder.
Colin Cowherd has his own ESPN radio show and is a very vocal Tom Brady supporter. “The majority of the great quarterbacks in the league today, 95% of them, and the great quarterbacks of all time, share one trait. It’s not their arm, it’s not their feet, it is their chip on the shoulder.” said Cowherd. Excluding Peyton Manning and Jon Elway, virtually every great quarterback today and in the history of the NFL was passed up at some point.
Aaron Rodgers won Super Bowl and an MVP award, but he had to go to a junior college before the University of California gave him a shot (Cowherd). Russell Wilson just made it to his 2nd consecutive Super Bowl in his first three years, but he had to transfer to Wisconsin because North Carolina State wanted to start Mike Glennon, despite Wilson’s superb performance the year before. The Dallas Cowboys drafted Roger Staubach so late in the draft, the round no longer is in existence. [v2] Even Joe Montana, Brady’s hero, fell to the late 3rd round (Cowherd). All of these quarterbacks and Tom Brady have two things in common. First, they were all passed up, creating a chip on their shoulders and secondly, they are all great. From his very beginnings in the game, Brady was passed up and neglected, creating and edge to him that drove him to be great.
As a result of being passed up, Tom Brady became a gritty quarterback. He began to work harder and harder each time he was overlooked. Angela Lee Duckworth is a psychologist that has done extensive research on why people are successful in what they do. She has found that in every context one trait has emerged, grit. “Grit is passion and perseverance, for very long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in day out. Not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years. And working really hard to make that future a reality. ” said Duckworth. Tom Brady had long term goals, he has passion and he sure has perseverance.
Brady’s first taste of football came his freshman year of high school. After losing every game and never getting a chance to play, quitting seemed like what most people would do. In fact the only reason he got to play is because his sophomore year: the guy ahead of him had the mindset of most people, he quit (The Brady 6). Brady showed his grit by not quitting.
His college sophomore season Tom Brady lost the starting job to upperclassmen Brian Griese. Brady considered transferring and going back home to California. “Coach, I’m not going to leave and I’m going to prove to you that I’m the best quarterback.” said Brady to Coach Lloyd Carson after the decision. “There’s no question as I looked into his eyes, he had a goal in mind and he was not going to be denied.” said Carson years later. (The Brady 6). Tom Brady had a goal in mind and by his junior year he accomplished that goal, becoming the best quarterback on the team. [v3]
The NFL brought [v4] new trials to test Brady’s perseverance and grit. Tom Brady has physical limitations. In fact he may just be the most un-athletic quarterback ever. Regarding Brady’s NFL combine workout, Mel Kiper, a long time NFL draft analyst remarked, “His 40-time and that vertical jump, in 32 years of doing this, we’ve talked about 576 quarterbacks. He was number 576” (The Brady 6). In recent memory Tom Brady has the least amount of physical talent among quarterbacks. Fortunately for Brady, “Talent doesn’t make you gritty.” Says Duckworth “In our data grit is usually unrelated or even inversely related to measures of talent” (Duckworth). This lack of talent perhaps brought about Brady’s work ethic and grit.
Brady made great progress throughout his first year, but he was still behind pro bowl quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Before the start of Brady’s second season, he attended a wedding with former teammate Aaron Shea. “He was talking and he said, I’m gonna beat out Drew Bledsoe….I said this is Drew Bledsoe, pro bowl quarterback. He goes I’m telling you…I’m gonna beat him out. You just watch.” said Shea. (The Brady 6). Early into the season Drew Bledsoe got hurt and Tom Brady got his opportunity to show what he could do. To this day Tom Brady has never left the starting job for the Patriots.
Tom Brady could have quit in high school when he didn’t get playing time. He could have transferred to a different college when he lost the starting job to Brian Griese. [v5] His senior year he could have lied down and gave the job over to Drew Henson. In his early years in the NFL he could have accepted his role as a backup. But Tom Brady set goals, he persevered. He didn’t quit football in high school. Brady stayed at Michigan after losing the job and the next year won 10 games. When Drew Henson emerged, Brady didn’t back down, he outplayed Henson and led his team to the Orange Bowl. And when Brady got his opportunity to play in New England, he never looked back. Tom Brady has persevered, set goals and showed true grit throughout his football career.
Tom Brady has a chip on his shoulder. Tom Brady has the will to overcome and persevere. As a result of these things, Tom Brady works harder than any other quarterback in the NFL and perhaps as hard as any other athlete. In Outliers, a book by Malcolm Gladwell, a chapter is dedicated to the theory of 10,000 hours. This theory suggests that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice to master their craft. In Outliers, Gladwell cites the story of The Beatles as an example of this theory. While at the start of their career, the band played live shows in Hamburg, Germany. They would play music late into the night. Eight hours a day, seven days a week. After only a year and a half they had performed live about 1200 times. It was that practice that Gladwell and even The Beatles themselves attribute to the main reason of their success in the years to follow (48–50).
How does Tom Brady relate to 10,000 hours? He started to play football in high school, so he couldn’t have put in that much practice by the time he entered the league. That just makes Tom Brady’s work ethic all the more amazing. “God, what if LeBron James trained how I trained? He really could play forever”, said Brady in a Sport Illustrated interview. Tom Brady’s work ethic and preparation are unparalleled by his peers in the NFL.
In 2004 Jim Miller got his only call of the offseason from the New England Patriots. The Patriots offered him a backup role behind the already cemented poster boy of the team, Tom Brady. In that season alone Miller saw the hardest working quarterback he has ever played with. In an article written in 2013 by Elizabeth Merrill, she remarks, “Anyone who’s played behind Brady has inevitably watched more game film than he cares to mention. Some of them can’t understand how Brady and Belichick could sit there, for three hours straight, never taking their eyes off the film.” In the article Jim Miller is quoted saying “You can definitely see the drive in him, the drive to be perfect. I think Tom knows his physical limitations. So how is he going to beat you? He beats you cerebrally. He will out-execute you and out-compete you” (Merrill). Tom Brady does have physical limitations. In reality he is just as athletic as the average Joe,[v6] but that caused him to work on what he could control, like being a smarter, grittier quarterback.
After his college days and the NFL combine, Tom Brady’s scouting report read as follows. “Poor build, skinny, lacks great physical stature and strength, lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm, can’t drive the ball downfield, doesn’t throw a really tight spiral, system type player who can exposed if forced to adlib and gets knocked down easily.” Tom Brady has been named to 10 pro bowl teams. He has won two NFL MVP awards. He won a Super Bowl in 2001, 2003, 2004 and in 2014 he won his fourth, just as many as his idol, Joe Montana.[v7] Tom Brady lacked the talent that coaches and scouts thought he needed in order to be a successful quarterback. His story is a true American success story, because it proves that talent doesn’t define success. Tom Brady is living proof that if you work hard, you can achieve your goals in life.
Works Cited
Bishop, Greg. “Given the way he prepares, Tom Brady won’t be slowing down anytime soon.” Sports Illustrated. 15 Dec. 2014. Print.
“Colin Cowherd on why some QB’s fail and other are successful.” Perf. Colin Cowherd. Youtube.com, 2012. Video Clip.
Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants. New York. Little, Brown and Company. 2013. Print
— -. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York. Little, Brown and Company. 2008. Print
Merrill, Elizabeth. “To be a Tom Brady backup is.” ESPN. 22 Jan. 2013 Print
“The Brady 6.” Year of the Quarterback. Act. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. ESPN. ESPN. Bristol, 12 Apr. 2011. Television.
The key to success? Grit. Perf. Angela Lee Duckworth. Films Media Group, 2013. Video Clip.
Yue, Carole L., Bjork, Elizabeth L. and Bjork, Robert A. “Reducing Verbal Redundancy In Multimedia Learning: An Undesired Desirable Difficulty?” Journal of Educational Psychology 105.2 (2013): 266–277. ERIC. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Tutt, a journalism major from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, seeks to become a sports writer for ESPN. Tutt likes to spend time with his little brother Jack, play baseball and watching Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon talk about sports on PTI.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
When searching for scholarly articles, the Bethel online library can save your life.
Practicing for 10,000 hours on a specific skill leads to a mastery of that specific skill.
Bill Gates received a string of lucky breaks to end up where he is today. No one hits it big off of hard work alone.
Believed hardships, such as a child having dyslexia, can turn out to be a desirable difficulty.
Use active verbs when you write. No one wants to read a sentence that starts “Jeremy Tutt was.” Replace words like was and is with active verbs like ran or wrote.
Name the dog. Once you give the dog a name it becomes special to you. Same with writing and reading. I don’t want to tell you about my baseball glove, I want to tell you about my 11 and a half inch, A2K, premium leather, Dustin Pedroia model, Wilson glove.
Finish where you start. Bring the reader back to where you started, it reminds them of your opening anecdote and connects your whole paper.
Break up your paragraphs into multiple shorter paragraphs. It looks better and makes your paper more appealing and easier to read while also making your paper look slightly longer.
Length of the paper does not determine how well written the paper is. Know what to leave out and don’t repeat yourself too much. No one wants to read a paper that rambles on. You’re writing a paper, not giving a speech; edit your paper down so that it is clear and concise.
Share your writing. How else are people going to know how good you are? You’re sharing your work, not your diary.
Drop readers in a moment. Papers are way more interesting when started with a story. Make the reader feel like he’s there, like he’s watching a movie.
Appeal to the readers’ senses. What did the building smell like? What did the pizza taste like? What did the music sound like?
Do great stories start with a question? Yes, a question at the start of the story involves the reader and gets them thinking before the story has even started.
Take what you learn in writing classes and use those skills in all your other classes. Non-English teachers don’t know as much about writing as your English professors. They will be blown away by your interesting, yet formal writing.
The library is packed at 6 p.m. on a Monday as students just like myself are scrambling to get their procrastinated homework done. At least six pages is the requirement for this research paper I have due tomorrow for College Writing. Last Sunday I was in the same position. Six pages to go on a Media Communications research paper and I hadn’t done much more than a small amount of research on the topic. That paper took me all night; started at 6 p.m., finished at 1 a.m. As I sit down in my usual spot in the back corner on the second floor of the library, I prepare for another long night. Fast forward to 9 p.m., I look up, and I already have six pages completed. The paper went by like a breeze. About a half hour of editing and I had written a seven page paper in just four hours, about half time of my previous paper and one page longer. I don’t even remember what I wrote my media communication paper on, but I enjoyed writing my college writing paper on Tom Brady. The most important thing I learned about this year is to write about something or someone you care about. When you’re interested in what you are writing, it shows in your paper.
