Tom Brady, the Legion of Boom, and The Ripple Effect of Intangibles
This article is an excerpt from my newly released book, Finding Intangibles, available now on Amazon.
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There is not just one type of intangible or character trait that dictates success. It depends on the concessions your team wants to make, the team you want to become, and the type of players you want on your team.
What you want to look for in players are the things that you can’t see on the stat sheet to find out which players possess the traits, aside from their talent, that make them more likely to deal with the pressure of performing and succeeding in a highly competitive environment. Essentially, who has what it takes to make it.
New England Patriots scout Chris Caminti highlighted the importance of intangibles in achieving any type of personal or team success, saying that “intangibles are what help bind, and form a team, and what makes a player a great player, not because he runs fast.”
The more a team can understand the traits that are crucial to team and individual success, the more they can improve their hit rate of acquiring players that find success on their teams and at their level of competition.
The Ripple Effect of Intangibles
The ripple effects of intangibles can be incredibly influential on an organization and its people. Tom Brady joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers perfectly illustrates how one person in pursuit of excellence can raise the standards and performance of everyone around them.
Before Tom Brady arrived in Tampa Bay in 2020, the Bucs were a team that was finding a way to lose instead of finding a way to win. But adding Tom Brady took their team culture to another level. One person, given the right structure and circumstance, can make such a big difference on the success of the organization.
Bruce Arians talked about the profound effect Tom Brady had on Bucs team culture.
“One guy can make a big difference. With Tom Brady coming in, the way he comes to work, every single day he takes care of himself, the way he prepares, his intensity. The attention to detail. It’s like having another coach on the field. I tried to get a guy pumping his arms coming out of his breaks at receiver, I had been telling him for a month. Tom said the same thing, ‘Pump your arms,’ and he goes, ‘OK, Tom.’”
Brady didn’t just bring his talent to the team, but he also brought all of the valuable intangible traits with him to work every day that raised the standards and the performance of the entire organization. All of these things will never show up on a stat sheet, but were vital in changing the culture and turning Tampa Bay into a championship team.
Brain Billick, Super Bowl winning head coach for the Baltimore Ravens once said, “How do you measure Ray Lewis?” Players like Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Ray Lewis are all people with intangibles that are off the charts. They won’t show up on paper or the stat sheet. And there may be no way to quantify how their work ethic, intelligence, or leadership affects the rest of the team, but if you ask anyone who coached with or played with these players, they will all tell you their influence on the team was profoundly important to their success.
When I was at UCLA, Dan Quinn came to speak to the team in 2014 while he was the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator during the legendary run of the “Legion of Boom” defense. He specifically illustrated a huge reason for the success of the defensive unit, and to a greater extent the whole team, was the presence, mindset, and attitude of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. He never mentioned playing ability or talent or any type of accolades. Instead, he talked about the competitiveness of each and how their daily approach to practice affected everyone on the team.
“Earl Thomas comes to walk-thrus wearing cleats, gloves, and his mouthpiece. His mentality is that those are reps. People want to work hard when they see Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor busting their ass in practice,” Quinn said of the team’s most accomplished players. These players are creating a ripple effect among each of their teammates on the hard work the players and team want to represent. In this case, the better the player and the more of a leader each is on the team increases the potential to create a bigger ripple effect than others may be able to. These small ripples raise the preparation and performance of everyone involved, from coaches to staff to players.
Although Chancellor and Thomas were among the NFL’s best at their positions, their impact on Seattle’s culture went far beyond their talent. It was the intangibles, such as a competitive attitude and focused approach, that each player brought to work that created ripple effects felt throughout the entire organization, from the meeting rooms to the practice field.
Champions Prioritize Character
These intangibles should be traits your team has determined are critical to the positive development and career success of individuals, as well as aligning with the culture of the organization. These traits and mental characteristics dictate nearly everything, from how effective a player can take to coaching to their willingness to buy into the team concept. Building a team of high-character people that are team-oriented in their approach are more likely to buy-in and have an overall positive effect on the culture.
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