Sometimes the best people are not chosen first. Has that ever happened to you? Many times people are overlooked because of the opinions of “other” people.

I want to tell you a little football story:

There are only three NFL quarterbacks that have won 4 Super Bowls. Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Terry Bradshaw. Terry Bradshaw was the 1st round draft pick and won 4 super bowls with the Pittsburg Steelers. He lived up all the expectations of the experts. With Terry, the experts got it right.

Joe Montana was the 82^nd draft pick and won 4 super bowls for the San Francisco 49ers and Tom Brady was the 199^th draft pick and has won (still playing today) 4 super bowls for the New England Patriots. These are the only 3 quarterbacks to have won 4 super bowls in the history of the NFL.

I want to focus on Joe Montana and Tom Brady. Experts considered Joe Montana to be too small, too slow and couldn’t throw the ball very far and was viewed as weak and frail. Joe Montana’s real gift was the calming effect he had in the huddle. He had a way about himself that relaxed his players when they got stressed. He was said to have been one of the best ever at reading a defense and he just worked harder than everyone else. It wasn’t his skill that made him one of the greats in football, rather it was his hard work and how he studied the game that enabled him to quickly read a defense and adjust his offensive play.

The experts said Tom Brady had slow foot speed, too skinny, had a weak arm and couldn’t throw a tight spiral. Before he retires, Tom Brady (38 years old) may set the record for the longest successful football career of all time. His slow foot speed forced him to be a pocket passer. Not an easy thing to do. He worked hard to develop the quick release he is known for. Since he was slow, he had learn how to be the best at taking a snap and getting planted in the throw position quicker than his competitors. It was this focus he learned that overcame his other faults and enabled him to lead a team to the Super Bowl 6 times, which is more than any other quarterback in the history of the game.

Why am I giving you this football lesson? It is simply that we should never rely on the “experts” to determine our self-worth. Additionally, never let other people dictate our limits of success. Joe Montana’s real gift was reading the defense and keeping his guys calm. Tom Brady’s real gift was staying in the pocket and releasing the ball quicker than anyone else. When you step back from this and really look at it, many times it is the small overlooked and seemly insignificant things that make the person great. By all standards of perceived greatness and ability, Joe Montana and Tom Brady should never have been NFL quarterbacks. They were too slow and weak and simply did not have the skill set to be great quarterbacks. It is the small details and the small abilities that can make all the difference.

Don’t let anyone limit you and tell you what you can become. That’s up to you, not them. KT