The Gifted vs Work Ethic

The third day we worked on ball drills. In the past weeks we worked on techniques and fundamentals of the wide receiver position. The reason wide receivers drop a lot of footballs is because of the lack of concentration. I teach my guys to catch the ball with their eyes. After you catch the football with your eyes, you now tuck the football, using your eyes. If you are a fan of football from little league to the NFL 99.9% of drops are because pass catchers are taking their eyes off the football. You would be amazed, but fundamentals never changed on all levels. We catch and tuck the football with our eyes. Our eyes never leave the football until it’s secured. I expect my guys to understand this philosophy as we prolong with our training.

I always tell my guys to watch NFL wide receivers, but thinking a lot of NFL wide receivers has bad habits. Some of the best in the game are Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Dez Bryant, Steve Smith, and many more. These guys have freakish gifts, Calvin Johnson 6’5 230lbs runs 4.35 40 yard dash and has vertical jump of 40inches. He is pound for pound the best receiver in the league. When you are blessed with freakish gifts you rely on those gifts and don’t work on day one fundamentals. There are many NFL wide receivers that have poor fundamentals such as, stance/starts, poor route running, average hands, and are poor blockers.  To work on those fundamentals you will need a coach that will break those habits or to have longevity and playing at an elite level you will have to put your pride to the side and improve them yourself. For example, Jerry Rice played 20 years in the NFL and in his 18^th year in the NFL he played in a Pro Bowl; because his work ethic was his gift. Nobody worked harder than Rice, and that’s why he played at an elite level at the age of 40.

Young guys, if you want to have dreams playing at the Next Level you have to possess the correct fundamentals and techniques. That’s stance/starts, releases, parts of route (Speed, stem, and drive), route running, catching the ball properly (catch with your eyes), and blocking. Be a complete wide receiver, one thing I can say about my football career I wasn’t the biggest, strongest, nor the fastest, but I possessed all those key fundamentals to become an All-American and NFL WR. Young guys don’t rely on your gifts; instead have a work ethic that will take your gifts to another level.