A message for these times

IN THE early days of processing the devastation of covid19, I felt so paralysed with fear I couldn’t concentrate. I had just recovered from a monstrous virus in its own right, and I desperately wanted to feel stronger to face whatever was coming our way.

In those days when I needed to see and feel something uplifting, I watched a 40-minute mic’d up videoclip of the NFL 2020 Super Bowl countless times because I needed that testimony of how a positive attitude and living in the moment can propel us forward. I also took comfort in how this video demonstrated that we can change a culture of defeat into one of success.

You don’t have to be an American football fan to appreciate the lessons of this video. Just imagine your favourite team in any sport overcoming the stigma of never winning a championship for 50 years, and then tune into this lesson on how to turn that history into success.

This is the story of the Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs, but it is also the story of every struggling team or struggling person. It’s an invaluable lesson in escaping the stigma of the past.

Cheeseburger-loving Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid and his 24-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes demonstrate exemplary leadership qualities throughout the game. Always poised and never ruffled, they uplift everyone around them. Good leadership, they teach us, means making everyone around you better.

In sports, one bad play often makes an entire game unravel. The player who makes a mistake is often ostracised and benched. But bad plays don’t phase Mahomes.

When he threw his first interception in the Super Bowl, Reid asks on the sidelines, “What are you thinking?” Mahomes analyses the play he messed up. On another interception, Reid tells Mahomes, “Just keep firing.” Reid never inflicts guilt on his players.

When Chiefs’ receiver Tyreek Hill sits on the bench after a crucial pass slips through his arms, his coach says, “We’re coming back to you. You’ve gotta believe. We’re going right back out there, and we’re coming back to you.” Hill returns for a crucial play.

The Chiefs repeatedly tell each other, “Believe.” The fiery Chiefs’ defensive safety Tyran Mathieu, nicknamed “Honey Badger” for his fearlessness, jumps up from his seat on the bench when his team is down ten points near the end of the game and chants, “I like this. This is what I like. It’s on us.” Instead of feeling intimidated, he enjoys the pressure of being on the defence at this point of the game.

Meanwhile Frank “the shark” Clarke, a defensive player, remains calm and positive. Everyone is sure that this is a game “they’re going to talk about forever,” as Mahomes tells his team. Another player says, “They’re going to make a movie about this.” All now, the Chiefs are still losing, but they’re making a comeback.

Meanwhile on the San Francisco sideline, head coach Kyle appears angry and frustrated when the Chiefs pull out a good play or his team makes a bad play. One of his coaches doubles over in a toxic combination of fear and disappointment after a player drops a pass.

When the Chiefs tackle 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo, he begins to crumble. When the Chiefs are down and Mahomes is sacked, he congratulates the other team for a good sack. He runs off the field chanting, “They have to hit me!” when he is tackled. He has no fear of injury even though he had been sidelined for several games this season after suffering a dislocated knee. He lives in the moment. Indeed, he lives for the moment.

It is not easy to overcome the stigma of the past, but the Chiefs never bought into the past defining them. In this mic’d up Super Bowl, players constantly encourage and support each other as a team. Their mindset is extraordinary.

In the end, as players celebrate, one player crosses the field, saying, “I’m a champion. I’ve never been that in my life.”

I must have watched this 40-minute clip 100 times since we’ve been at home because I need to feel that positive energy of what happens when people come together as a team to support each other. I need to feel that we are not defined by our past, and we can change the culture of fear and defeat that often prevails. The mic’d up Super Bowl 2020 is indeed a fitting message for these times.