Post by Professor Adam Nicholls

𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 A lot of people know about Tom Brady’s 7 Super Bowls, but I think it’s far less known about Brady’s battles to even play in the National Football League (NFL). As he talks about in this video, he was a backup quarterback in his high school team that lost eight matches and he couldn’t get on the field, started as the 7th quarterback at University of Michigan, and was then a 6th round draft pick. This is testament to his attitude, mindset and understanding of how to get the best out of himself and others. He admits he was not gifted physically and did not have a great throwing arm, but: “I always had a lot of belief in myself and I always tell a lot of young quarterbacks - ‘if you don’t believe in yourself why are those guys that look at you are gonna believe in you?’ When you step in that huddle they’ve got to look at you and know you’re ready to get the job done.” Brady also said: “You’ve got to believe in who you are, what you do, and what you bring to the team, and if you do that, they’re gonna feed of that as well.” Fransen et al. (2016) found that when an athlete leader expresses confidence in themselves and the team’s ability, members of the team have higher belief in their team to be successful. Further, Fransen also found that in comparison to teams led by leaders who had low or neutral confidence, those led by a confident athlete leader impacted both individual and overall team performance. As such, Brady’s confidence in himself and the the team can impact the e players’ belief in their ability successful and the overall performance. Reference. Fransen et al. (2016). We will be champions: Leaders' confidence in 'us' inspires team members' team confidence and performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 26(12):1455-1469.

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