At this point, if you watch the NFL or really any sports, you know the name Julius Thomas. Julius is every NFL scouts dream, a former college basketball player converted into a tight end (think Antonio Gates) that has the athleticism, speed, and size all defenses are afraid of.
Julius is a MONSTER on the field, helping Peyton Manning surpass the NFL career passing record, an incredible feat. With that said, it’s very easy to see all his accomplishments and pass off his success to just plain athleticism. While that’s somewhat true, as a sports performance coach that has coached at the college and NFL level, I’ve seen plenty of talented athletes but lack the results on the field, court, platform, and so on. So what’s the difference?
Work Ethic
According to a post that Julius wrote, “It’s Just So Easy”. Things do not come easy to him at all:
“I have to spend a long time practicing before I’m even okay at something, much less good.”
You’d think an incredible athlete like this is wired to pick up any skill set very quickly. Julius goes on to talk about how he prepared for a dance in middle school by practicing EVERY day after school by himself. Finally after the months of dancing alone, in his room, it clicked and that seemed of set his work ethic from then on.
He kept this same mentality when it transitioned into football for his senior year at Portland State. Julius did everything he could to learn how to run routes, blocking skills, understanding the playbook, and so on:
“I would spend all day in the coaches’ offices picking the brain of anybody who had time to teach me a little more about football. It became a borderline obsession. I attacked the playbook with the same mindset that I had used to approach everything in my life: To find a way to make it easy.”
This is what makes an already athletic athlete into a successful athlete. The willingness to become better by putting in the time on the practice field and in the film room, trying to find any detail to make it “easier” on them on the field. But to do so you have to do the work, this in my opinion has been a missing link amongst many young athletes.
I talked about this prior, but social media has really skewed what it takes to become an elite athlete, to lose/gain weight, look better, flat abs, 6 pack abs, canon ball shoulders, etc… the fact is it takes time, persistence, effort, and a good support staff to lead you in the right direction. So if you’re looking for quick fixes, it most likely is not going to happen.
Humility
Picture from The Players Trubune
Humility is also big attribute to Julius’ and many other athletes success. The willingness to say “I don’t know what to do can you teach me”, is surprisingly tough for many young athletes and even general fitness clientele. With all the information on the internet, everyone has become an expert but in the end they don’t know how to truly apply that knowledge, adjust it to their skill set, or have the eye to coach the right mechanics.
Julius wasn’t afraid to swallow his pride and ask for help, even though he’s clearly an amazing athlete:
“…that first week of practice didn’t go so well. I mean, the third string defensive end was kicking my ass, and I didn’t even have a single pass thrown at me. But a bigger challenge was attempting to learn the lingo associated with football from scratch. Coaches at that level are used to teaching technique. With me, they had to go a step further and school me in the very basics of the game every single play. When one of them would try to tell me how to react to a Cover 2 defense, I’d have stop and ask them to explain what a Cover 2 was.”
In similar situations, I’ve seen many athletes, personal training clients, performance coaches, and “act like they know” instead of asking the coach for their input and being truthful. If you don’t swallow your pride and let the coaches do their job, then it’s only hurting you. This goes not only for coaches but interns too. In my many years of interning, shadowing, visiting other coaches, I’ve learned to shut my trap and soak in all their knowledge.
Process
We’re in the age of “NOW”, everyone wants strength, power, speed, conditioning, abs, etc…NOW! The problem with this thought process is that you start to skip over certain aspects of your development which will actually get you to your goal faster. But that means you have to take a few steps slower and trust in the process. Julius understood this, despite it being his senior year and his first time putting on pads in over 6 years, he focused on the basics of his position:
“To hell with the playbook, to hell with the pads — it took me months just to develop the hip flexibility I needed to get into a proper stance”
He could’ve easily panicked and argued with the coaches that he needs to learn how to block, run routes, learn to read the plays etc… but nope he focused on the basic fundamentals and THEN moved on to the other skill sets that would help develop him as a dominant tight end.
This same process goes across pretty much every goal, regardless if you’re looking to build strength, lose weight, increase your on field performance and so on. You have to learn the basic fundamentals and then work your way up from there.
Conclusion
Julius’ post is very powerful to me because I’ve seen so many athletes, fitness clients, and even performance coaches/personal trainers not make it, not due to their lack of skills but the lack of realism. Many of them focused only on the success’ of others instead of the work that got them there.
“…this is my long way of saying no, I don’t think football or life is “so easy.” With countless hours of practice and an unflinching desire to achieve, every once in a while it just is.
Give me a little time, I’ll get better. But I assure you, it’s only easy when you’re determined to make it so.”
I believe this unwavering work ethic to become better and put in the work and time is what makes the difference. Avoid the bull shit quick fixes some unqualified personal trainer, performance coach, or sales marketing person is pitching.
Train smart,
Team Fusion Trained