Whatever Gets You Right
by Steve McGill
So, when my Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl this past month, I was as jubilant as everybody who’s known me over the years thought I would be. I was especially happy to see one of my favorite players, wide receiver AJ Brown, have a good game, including scoring a touchdown. Just a few weeks earlier, Brown had been castigated for reading a book on the sidelines while the defense was on the field. His teammates and coaches were cool with it, but the local media, the national media, and the kings and queens of social media had a field day criticizing him for his selfish attitude. In the game where he was “caught” reading the book, he had maybe one catch at the time and was probably frustrated about not having the ball thrown his way more often. So the obvious narrative was that Brown was pouting and being a typical wide receiver “diva.”
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But upon further review, it became evident that that wasn’t the first time Brown had spent time reading on the sidelines. In one photo that appeared on the internet, he was reading a book in a different game from earlier in the season, and in that game he had already caught a lot of passes and was playing outstanding football. So that photo debunked the narrative that reading was an act of rebellion against the coaches or the quarterback. Then, as the story continued to grow, it was revealed that the book he was reading was a motivational text: Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life by author Jim Murphy. Brown explained that there were certain passages in the book that kept him calm, focused, and centered in a sport that is violent and emotional by nature. So he was reading the book as a way to stay locked in and to keep his emotions in check.
Being a fan of the team and the player, I knew initially that there had to be more to it than him just being egotistical and whiny. He’s not that type of player, and he’s not that type of person. So when he provided his explanation, it made sense to me. It also made sense to the track coach in me, and I felt like those bashing Brown missed a vital point and life lesson, especially as it pertains to the world of sports: Whatever you have to do to get your mind right, do it. The reason Brown’s teammates and coaches weren’t upset, and even defended him, was because they understood why he was reading. One of his teammates had actually recommended the book to him. Now while I acknowledge that reading a book on the sidelines is unconventional, that doesn’t make it wrong or misguided. Brown was doing what every athlete should do, regardless of the sport: quieting the mind so that the body could perform instinctively.
My method of quieting the mind in the moments leading up to a race was to pace back and forth in my lane, behind the starting line, or from the start line to the first hurdle. Once I had completed my warmup and it was close to time for the race to start, that’s what I’d do. Back in those days (1980s), we had no portable devices for playing music. If there had been, I’m sure I would’ve made a nice, solid pre-race playlist to keep me in the zone during my warmup, as many athletes do now.
In track, except for relay events, the moments leading up to a race are the moments when the sport’s individualized nature moves to the forefront. Coaches can’t help you now, teammates can’t help you now. It’s all you. So it’s important for athletes to develop individualized rituals that get them in the right frame of mind to perform at their highest level. I’m not big on a lot of socializing before a race, especially with members of other teams, no matter how many friends you may have on other teams, and no matter how close those friendships are. There’s a time and a place for everything, and the moments leading up to a race are not the time to get caught up with old friends. Solitude is best, I would argue — a ritual or routine that helps you to enter into your own world. That’s why I’m more than okay with athletes who prefer to tune out the world around them by putting headphones over their ears or airpods over their ears. Just don’t miss the calls for your event! But yeah, if playing music works for you, then listen to music.
It’s worth noting that Brown wasn’t reading the book cover-to-cover on the sideline. He had already read the book plenty of times. So he was going back and re-reading specific passages that helped to calm the nerves. So, in that sense, reading prior to a competition is another very good way to lock in. Plenty of athletes I’ve coached over the years have favorite Bible verses that they will read. Some have remembered the verses, so they just repeat them to themselves without actually needing to have a copy of the Bible with them.
A girl I coached last year, Sophie Ratcliff, who is now a college freshman, would go to the bathroom three or four times before a race. Sophie was always nervous before races. Heck, she’d be nervous four or five days prior to the next meet. On race day she was a mess. When I first noticed her going to the bathroom so many times prior to races, I was like, “Sophie, you need to chill.” But as she kept winning races and/or setting personal bests in just about every meet, I changed my tune. If frequent bathroom trips helped to calm her nerves, then let Sophie be Sophie. By the end of her senior year I was asking her, “Sophie, did you go to the bathroom yet?” I understood that was what she needed to do to get right.
Sports, as we all know, require mental strength as much as they require physical strength. You can do all the training in the world, but if your mind’s not right, you’ll fall apart in big moments. That’s why sports psychology is a legit field of study, and why sports psychologists are legit mental health professionals. At every level of athletic competition, there are athletes who have the talent, who put in the work, yet still fall short of expectations. Athletes must have practices in the arena of competition and away from it that serve to heighten their focus while calming their nerves and quieting their minds. In our sport, on race day, you only get one rep, so mental preparation is paramount to success.
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