DENVER — “Pressure does strange things to a human being, even to brilliant, self-confident, mature, experienced men. For some it brings out characteristics and strengths that perhaps they never they had, and for others the pressure is too overwhelming.”
--Bobby Kennedy, from the book, Sons & Brothers
Kennedy, the former U.S. Senator and Attorney General, was writing in context of how his older brother and United States President John F. Kennedy successfully handled the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. And while sports comes nowhere near the significance of determining the lives of human beings, especially those of our nation’s children, there is something about competition in professional form that nevertheless incites enormous pressure.
I have always been fascinated by players who are definitively affected by pressure, good and bad. This goes back to the 1969 Chicago Cubs. On August 16, the Cubs were 75-44 and leading the National League East by 9 games. They finished 17-26 and lost the division title to the New York Mets by 8 games. A 17-game swing in 43 games.
I was a 10 year old agonizingly watching the Cubs collapse every day on WGN. The way I remembered, it wasn’t eventual Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams or Ron Santo who the Cubs could count on for the big hit down the stretch but Jim Hickman. It wasn’t Fergie Jenkins or Kenny Holtzman who delivered the best-pitched games but Bill Hands.
Pressure does strange things to a human being … ”
In my lifetime, the best big-game pitchers were Bob Gibson, Jack Morris and Curt Schilling. When it mattered most, give me Dante Bichette over Larry Walker, Madison Bumgarner over Clayton Kershaw, Derek Jeter over Alex Rodriguez, David Freese over Dave Winfield.
If the NBA Championship comes down to one shot at the buzzer, make sure the play is set up for Robert Horry to take The Big Shot.
In football, here’s hoping with the context of more time Joe Montana returns to the discussion of greatest quarterback of all-time. In four Super Bowls, he was 4-0 while outdueling Ken Anderson, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason and John Elway by completing 68% of his passes for 286 passing yards a game with 11 touchdowns against 0 interceptions for a 127.8 rating.
Tom Brady was 7-3 in Super Bowls with 304 yards per game and 21 touchdowns against 6 interceptions and a 97.8 rating. Yes, Brady wiped out all other quarterbacks in career stats, both regular season and postseason. This is an instance when 7-3 is considered greater than 4-0. Brady has correctly surpassed Montana as the greatest quarterback of all time.
And yes, Montana was considered a “system” quarterback who greatly benefitted from having the greatest receiver of all-time in Jerry Rice.
But when the pressure was dialed up to inferno, no quarterback threw more accurately than Montana. No one had more poise when the stage was the biggest, the lights were brightest. Cooler than the other side of the pillow, is how he was once so wonderfully described,
The Broncos had a clutch player this past year. Russell Wilson. In his 15 fourth quarters this year, he threw for 1,045 yards – 208 more than any quarter. He threw 11 touchdown passes – five more than his next-best quarter – against just two interceptions. He engineered comeback wins from fourth quarter deficits of 28-14 at Chicago, 17-16 against the Packers, 22-21 against the Bills, and 17-9 against the Vikings.
Wilson’s unflinching positivity may seem corny, even disingenuous. He always brushed off every mistake with the belief he would do better next time. But this character trait also seemed to strengthen him under pressure. He did throw a final-second end zone interception in a tough loss at Houston. But he also somehow shook off a certain sack to give the play a chance. He was terrible for three quarters against New England, then tremendous in the fourth quarter when he scrambled and threw for two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to erase a 16-point deficit. This was a week after head coach Sean Payton screamed at him on the sidelines for all the football world to see.
Unfortunately for Wilson and the Broncos, he seemed to have two quarter stints in each game where he didn’t play well. It was those extended bouts of inconsistency that got him benched by Payton for those final two games. Hey, Robert Horry primarily came off the bench in the final 12 years of his career.
Wilson apparently wasn’t very good executing Payton’s play sheet. He was much better when the play became improvised. Coupled with failed contract adjustment negotiations on Oct. 31, it’s now certain Wilson and the Broncos will part ways within the next 60 days. That doesn’t mean Payton is right. It just means that as head coach, Payton is the boss. It's his gut that has final-say authority.
Maybe it will turn out to be best for both sides. We’ll see. But as he departs, give Wilson this: No matter how he may have struggled in posting a two-year, 11-19 record with the Broncos, he frightened opponents when the pressure was on. Was this worth $124 million over two years? No, it wasn't.
But that doesn’t diminish Russ’ characteristics and strengths when the game was on the line.
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