I’m a big New England Patriots fan. In the late ’70’s I had Patriot helmet hubcaps on my bike (like the ones above) and all I wanted for Christmas was a “real Patriots helmet like Steve Grogan wears.” So I’ve still been fan for more years of hoping they lose the last game of the year so they get a better draft pick than years of expecting them to win the last game in February.
Still, the Patriots success since 2000 has been fun. But what I like more is the evolution of ‘The Patriot Way’. This video, http://www.patriots.com/video/2016/01/16/what-does-patriot-way-mean does an okay job covering it but there’s more to it. After watching the team and listening to coach and player interviews for the last 15+ years you just get a sense of it being bigger than can be put into words.
It doesn’t matter where you were drafted or what your contract says, if you do your job and help them win you’ll have a home. They never talk about being the best ever or being better than anyone else, it’s all about being great at your own thing.
My kids are sick of me referring to the Patriots when I’m trying to teach life lessons.
When they win it’s a team effort where they executed better than the opposition. The other team doesn’t suck or lack skill because they lost. Sometimes it “feels good” or “it’s nice to beat those guys” but it’s never about what the other team did or didn’t do that makes the Patriots proud. It’s all about what they did and how they did it.
In the relatively rare occasions that they lose it’s also on them. They alone are responsible for failing to execute or understanding a scheme or assignment.
Haters out there have plenty to complain about. What’s funny is that those complaints are the exact opposite of the Patriot way. Don’t get twisted up about what they do or don’t do, focus on yourself.
I’ve been trying to remind myself of this lately. It doesn’t matter how someone else has gone about earning their success. While it’s nice to look at other people and uses them as a baseline to measure against I don’t need to be better than anyone. I want to be the best me possible. I want to do my job and help my team (family & friends) win (be happy and healthy).
