Simply put, whether it’s achieving success that drives them, or fear of failure.
Brady may have never had his brakes beaten off on the biggest stage the way Mahomes has.
Hell, the way he did to Mahomes' team himself.
But he’s suffered heartbreak nevertheless.
And I think what he says applies to every athlete in every sport across the board.
The truly elite ones, anyway:
When you lose this game, this is on your resume forever.
When I go to Philly and they go Philly Special!
That was 17 years ago, and Im still living that thing down.
“No one remembers the loss I had to Peyton in the 2015 championship game.
No one talks about the loss to Denver in the 2013 championship game.
No one talks about the loss to the Ravens in the 2012 AFC championship game.
They all tell me about the losses in the Super Bowl though.”
I acknowledge that this was days ago and you might be wondering why I’m still bringing it up.
And the answer is, I can’t stop thinking about it.
I think this attitude, more than any other, is what drives the athletes we enjoy watching.
The genuinely great ones can never get over the near misses.
Flying close to the sun only to have the wax in their wings melt and crashing to the ground.
But you know it’s true of Jordan, Gretzky, Bird, Tiger.
All the hyper-motivated, super-competitive success junkies who make sports great.
The rest of us civilians might want to see our teams go as far as they possibly can.
The logic being that four rounds of a postseason are better than three.
But noted expert on winning Tom Brady disagrees.
And I’m sure Mahomes is saying the same thing right now.
