There’s no “I” in team

[coltsfeva]

   I thought of this axiom yesterday while I was watching the interview with Odel Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garret and Baker Mayfield.

    “Our focus is on our legacy, on getting that green jacket”. Really? Individual accomplishments are the main focus? 

     Odel also referred to his teammates as “he” or “him”, which seemed kind of strange.

       I know players have to consider their individual success and financial concerns for their families but I couldn’t help but think that there might be issues in Cleveland and any other team that consists of players that don’t realize they are only a piece of the team, as a whole.

        Why must players isolate themselves, after a play? 

          Maybe I’m just getting old but, as much as I respect talent, I don’t like the focus on the individual player over the team concept.

  

 

 

 

[21isSuperman]

That just seems to be the culture of the NFL and NBA.  Individual players have much more power (see: the Antonio Brown saga, which subsequently made some owners pretty nervous).  This makes the players more individualistic and chest-beating (for lack of a better term), which in turn adds to the individualistic culture.  The NHL is completely different in that it's all about the teams and not so much about the players.  Not saying one is better or worse than the other, just that the leagues have their unique cultures.

 

With the specific example you mentioned, I think another factor that contributes is that the guys you listed all have alpha-male personalities and want to be the focus of attention. 

 

Thirdly, add in that the NBA and NFL receive more media attention than the NHL and I think that's another significant factor.  All you hear about is how acquiring OBJ made Cleveland a division contender, how Mayfield showed a ton of promise as a rookie, etc.  If you're OBJ, the entire city of Cleveland has been worshiping you since you got there and you haven't even played a down in a Browns jersey yet.  That's bound to get to your head eventually.

 

The culture of the league + the personalities of players in the league + media attention = players who want to be the focus.

[buccolts]

I am so much more attracted to the Colts culture than what appears to be rearing it's ugly head in Cleveland, but hey......... BB & Brady won't be around forever, and the league needs a team to despise, so the Browns could fit the bill. 

 

Who'd a thunk it, after so many years of being invisible.

[PrincetonTiger]

It happens in every sport at every level

[crazycolt1]

57 minutes ago, buccolts said:

I am so much more attracted to the Colts culture than what appears to be rearing it's ugly head in Cleveland, but hey......... BB & Brady won't be around forever, and the league needs a team to despise, so the Browns could fit the bill. 

 

Who'd a thunk it, after so many years of being invisible.

What's the saying?

Even a clock is right every 12 hours. In Cleveland's case it's every century.

[Superman]

2 hours ago, coltsfeva said:

  “Our focus is on our legacy, on getting that green jacket”. Really? Individual accomplishments are the main focus? 

 

Yeah, I don't like when players on my football team are trying to win the Masters, either.

 

 

 

[John Hammonds]

12 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Yeah, I don't like when players on my football team are trying to win the Masters, either.

 

 

 

Superman, you beat me to it!

[Barry Sears]

1 hour ago, John Hammonds said:

Superman, you beat me to it!

 

That's the first thing I noticed...I guess they don't care about getting into the Pro Football HOF and wear a yellow jacket!

 

Also, no "I" in team, but there is a "ME" in that word.

[sreeb2deeni]

When a room full of reporters ask question after question for what felt like hours, I think it is unfair to pick apart every comment made by the players. I thought they had a lot of answers that showed that TEAM matters to them as well. I'm not a Browns fan at all, but come on... these guys are football players who want to play football, not spend time trying to carefully construct answers to questions that all start to sound the same after awhile.

 

Just saying... 

[coltsfeva]

17 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Yeah, I don't like when players on my football team are trying to win the Masters, either.

 

 

 

 My bad..I meant Gold. Like I said in the post, maybe I’m getting old 

[ColtsBlueFL]

17 hours ago, Barry Sears said:

Also, no "I" in team, but there is a "ME" in that word.

 

 

You sure?

 

 

Couldn't resist...

[Superman]

10 hours ago, sreeb2deeni said:

When a room full of reporters ask question after question for what felt like hours, I think it is unfair to pick apart every comment made by the players. I thought they had a lot of answers that showed that TEAM matters to them as well. I'm not a Browns fan at all, but come on... these guys are football players who want to play football, not spend time trying to carefully construct answers to questions that all start to sound the same after awhile.

 

Just saying... 

 

Yeah, I try not to nitpick at players' words during press conferences anymore. Sometimes they say or do something exceptionally dumb (like dyeing their mustache blond, for instance), but most of the time they're getting asked the same derivative questions over and over again. People either criticize them for not being genuine, or criticize them for being too straightforward and not professional enough. In general, I think reporters ask bad questions at pressers, so I don't fault players (and coaches) for giving bad answers. 

 

2 hours ago, coltsfeva said:

 My bad..I meant Gold. Like I said in the post, maybe I’m getting old 

 

Obviously understood... just had to give you a little jab there, couldn't resist. 

[Valpo2004]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:50 AM, coltsfeva said:

   I thought of this axiom yesterday while I was watching the interview with Odel Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garret and Baker Mayfield.

    “Our focus is on our legacy, on getting that green jacket”. Really? Individual accomplishments are the main focus? 

     Odel also referred to his teammates as “he” or “him”, which seemed kind of strange.

       I know players have to consider their individual success and financial concerns for their families but I couldn’t help but think that there might be issues in Cleveland and any other team that consists of players that don’t realize they are only a piece of the team, as a whole.

        Why must players isolate themselves, after a play? 

          Maybe I’m just getting old but, as much as I respect talent, I don’t like the focus on the individual player over the team concept.

  

 

 

 

 

Lets also keep in mind that these guys likely havn't really met one another or spent any time together.  

 

One of the reasons that training camps are often held in a location away from the team's facility is for team building.  

 

All of that having been said, I do strongly question any team that runs out and spends a bunch of money on high priced free agents.  To me I think this tends to hurt team play.  Guys come in and they generally because of their past play and contract size expect a certain role on the team.  And when their role is different from what they expected it can cause some issues.  Now it's less of a problem with one or two guys because if they get unhappy in a strong locker room, they learn to just figure out what their role is and take it.  But in a jumbled mess of high priced FA's, their unhappiness can feed off of one another and become a cancer.

 

One of the best reasons to build a team through the draft is because drafted players come in at the bottom and grow into their role.  They don't come in with big expectations they come in usually just hoping that they can make it in professional football.  Even guys who are #1 overall picks come into the league mostly just hoping they can make it.  

[NFLfan]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:50 AM, coltsfeva said:

I thought of this axiom yesterday while I was watching the interview with Odel Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garret and Baker Mayfield.

    “Our focus is on our legacy, on getting that green jacket”. Really? 

 

On 4/3/2019 at 6:35 AM, coltsfeva said:

 My bad..I meant Gold. Like I said in the post, maybe I’m getting old 

 

Ah. Since you had put the "green jacket" comment in quotes, I assumed a Browns player actually said that. 

[coltsfeva]

13 hours ago, NFLfan said:

 

 

Ah. Since you had put the "green jacket" comment in quotes, I assumed a Browns player actually said that. 

He did say Gold but I quoted him incorrectly. Even though nearly every player in the NFL would love to make the Hall of Fame, I just thought it revealing how an individual accomplishment was his main focus.

[Dark Superman]

Exactly! This is why teams like the Raiders and Brown will never amount to anything.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

I bet Romo fantasized at least once about winning the Masters. Seen him play at a pro-am at Pebble Beach. He's not bad. Lol