Tom Brady's Success Is Due to the Talents and Help of Others

"To me it comes down to the mental toughness and determination of the players and coaches."

--Tom Brady, New England Patriots' quarterback, the 2007, and the new 2010 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, identifying the reason for his award.  

A unanimous choice for the NFL All-Pro team, Brady threw for 36 touchdowns while being intercepted just four times. When he won the award in 2007, Brady set an NFL mark with 50 touchdowns passes as New England went undefeated in the regular season.  Brady led the Patriots to a 16-0 mark in 2007 then and a league-best 14-2 this season.  In three other seasons, the Patriots have won the Super Bowl.  Brady is the only quarterback and the only active player to win the Offensive Player of the Year award twice. In addition, he has won 2 Super Bowl MVP awards, 1 NFL MVP award, and has been to 5 NFL Pro Bowls.     

"Tom studies a lot.  We get the bulk of it in the meeting rooms with just the players when we sit down to go over the things that he's been looking at. It carries over to the practice field as well. Tom is a dork when it comes to that, so I'm going to leave that alone, but Tom is a dork in that meeting room."

--Deion Branch, Patriots' veteran wide receiver.

• Do you recognize these qualities in your business or professional life?
• Do you acknowledge that your success is directly attributable to the talents, teamwork and help of others?
• How do you exhibit mental toughness?  
• Are you a student of your business or professional craft?

Excerpts from ESPN.com (February 2, 2011).  

For more on the New England Patriots franchise, click on the New England Patriots:  Peak Performance Case Study.  

For more on the Peak Performance System for mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.