Reaganaut Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3673275You should have seen Brees prior to that season's training camp. He changed his diet and his sleeping habits and began doing visualization therapy. He'd close his eyes and throw to receivers. At first, the receivers would be stationary, but then they'd run routes, and he'd hit them in stride, eyes shut. He decided quarterbacking was about multitasking-avoiding a rush and reading a defense at the same time-so in private, he'd call out pass progressions while juggling three tennis balls. He'd also attach himself to a sled with a bungee cord and throw rollout passes while high school kids rushed him. He was at the practice facility 24/7. "I never drove by and didn't see his car,'' Edwards says. "Even at 5 on a Friday. I'd say, 'Dude, go home.' " Drew Brees has been getting comparisons lately to the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. He's had some serious obstacles in his career to overcome, but it is clear that his strategy towards getting better as a quarterback is unusual and highly effective. Like Campbell, he got a huge workup in terms of tightening up his mechanics which would be more of the "outer game" as has been well documented. This is not particularly unusual, but learning visualization is definitely unusual. This has never been mentioned in the training of Jason Campbell or an important technique of the "innovative" Jim Zorn. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/columnist/2005-05-25-corbett_x.htm"The visualization training helped me just from a confidence and a focus standpoint," Brees says. "You really learn how to focus on your target because you can't always see it." With his eyes open, Brees identified five would-be targets in one of the hotel's open-air hallways. Then, he showed off his secret. "Okay, I'll close my eyes now, and I can still see all those things," Brees says. "I'm trying to feel how far away they are." In this imagined route tree, Brees walks straight ahead and connects with his primary receiver, patting the metal ash tray 5 yards down the hall to his left with his eyes still shut. He nails the fire alarm on the wall a few steps further down that he points to as he walks by. Then, he points at the pay phone on the left and the potted plant on the right about a first down from where he started. He keeps walking, toward his would-be end zone, a marble stairwell at the end of the hall. Just when the reporter was sorely tempted to tap the quarterback so he'd open his eyes before tumbling down the stairs, potentially suing the knucklehead who encouraged such a crazy stunt, Brees pulled up 2 feet short of a trip to the emergency room. "I believe the handrail is right here," he says, just missing patting it with his hand as he opens his eyes. "I didn't want to fall down the steps, so I played it safe." The quotes featured here are from three or four years ago. Brees is still thriving and is now being considered to be an elite quarterback. Campbell's mechanics have improved significantly under Jim Zorn. Perhaps it is time to consider how Drew Brees was built as a quarterback and pull in the guru who helped him get there. Jason has the physical tools, he needs to learn the "inner game" in order to become the quarterback people have envisioned him being. He needs to take control of this and get it managed. (Note: I am not a huge fan of Campbell, but I think that he could be salvaged and play to the limit of his ability given this type of innovative training and perhaps even take the team to a Superbowl. This type of training won't happen anytime soon in my opinion, so ultimately I am with the people who think his contract should expire at the end of the season. I'd like to see this become a standard training technique in the future for all Skins quarterbacks. Brees is not just a big talent, but he is clearly different in terms of his training. Think of what could be accomplished with Devin Thomas.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSkins Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 They tried that with the people who built Matt Hasselbeck. Didn't work. The underlying player is defective beyond repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggosMohawk Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Perhaps it is time to consider how Drew Brees was built as a quarterback and pull in the same people who helped him get there. Nice post, really liked the quotes. The #1 guy responsible for Brees' success is *shcoker* Drew Brees. I'm not saying Jason doesn't have a work ethic like this. The desire to be this good has to come from within though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Whether it relates to Campbell or not...that's a pretty cool read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaganaut Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 They tried that with the people who built Matt Hasselbeck. Didn't work. The underlying player is defective beyond repair. So they tried this on Hasselbeck? Can you elaborate here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Jason has the physical tools, he needs to learn the "inner game" in order to become the quarterback people have envisioned him being. He needs to take control of this and get it managed. This is his fifth season and it has taken a 1.25 of his three has a full-time starter to work on basics like mechanics. Best to get another QB rather than spending another year or two hoping and wishing on Campbell in one hand, crapping in the other and seeing which fills first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaganaut Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Whether it relates to Campbell or not...that's a pretty cool read. Thanks. I'd like to think it relates to Campbell. I'm not sure NO would part with Brees at this juncture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 The second piece sums up the glaring difference, which sadly can't be coached into you, whatever caliber of coaching you have. FOOTBALL intelligence, and the ability of Brees to process all that pre-snap as he breaks the huddle, knowing exactly where he's going to go with the ball, and where every player on his side of the ball should be; and being able to both make any fast adjustments as to what the defense gives him within that, and processing all that info and getting the darn ball out quickly to one of his targets, in stride before the receivers even turned, giving the d-backs little chance to react. As nice a guy as Jason is, and I'm sure intelligent off the field, he's sadly not been blessed with that God given speed of thought ON IT that separates the average/good, from the very good/elite in the pro game. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Thanks. I'd like to think it relates to Campbell. I'm not sure NO would part with Brees at this juncture. Sure...I just mean that not everyone is wired to put that type of time in. I'm not saying Campbell wouldn't, but at some point he'd have to want to do this type of stuff on his own. Even if he wanted (or wants) to put the time in, it's not always going to work out for everyone. QBs can be groomed, but I think some people are more hard-wired to succeed as QBs than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmySmith Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Good for Brees. It turned him from a 25 TD guy to a 30 TD guy. It had nothing to do with his defensive reads or his release. Oh to be San Diego, to let one All-Pro QB walk in favor of another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSO Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 No one should question Jason's work ethic. That being said, I'm sure this would definitely help him. All the little things count in this game. Jason does what the coaches tell him, and that is why all his coaches love him. Oh, and a nice big "here we go, again" is required for this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd421 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 That is pretty amazing...i really liked the sports science episode where breese was proven to be more accurate than an olypic archer....the guy is a freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 The #1 guy responsible for Brees' success is *shcoker* Drew Brees. Reminds me of what Charlie Weis said about Brady. He said that, yeah, there were others involved in tutoring Brady, but the reason that Tom Brady is so good is that he's Tom Brady. He had the natural ability and supplemented that with a relentless work ethic. I think Campbell busts his tail, and that's very admirable and something I would want my kids to emulate. Beyond the physical skills, though, he just doesn't seem to be able to grasp the mental part at a level sufficient to play QB in the NFL at anything more than a backup level. It's no sin - most QBs who come into the league can't do it, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Also, Brees was a great QB at Purdue. The best they've ever had, IMO (including Bob Griese.) He had struggles adjusting to the pro game but it's not like the talent he displayed at Purdue under Tiller didn't seem to correspond with NFL ability. He was a far superior QB at Purdue and was the best player on offense compared to Campbell who was not the best player on Auburn's offense and had one solid year where you could call him "great." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myzhi Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Phillip Rivers was best thing that happen to Drew Brees. Rivers put Brees on notice that he should put up or be career backup. The rest is history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaganaut Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Also, Brees was a great QB at Purdue. The best they've ever had, IMO (including Bob Griese.) He had struggles adjusting to the pro game but it's not like the talent he displayed at Purdue under Tiller didn't seem to correspond with NFL ability. He was a far superior QB at Purdue and was the best player on offense compared to Campbell who was not the best player on Auburn's offense and had one solid year where you could call him "great." Hmmm. This sounds like a reasonable explanation. Also, you sig file is interesting. It looks like a good take to me. I'm just offering a bit of a contrast to what Jim Zorn seems to be doing with the quarterbacks which is clearly not working that well. Campbell shows flashes, but his brain isn't in it. Same with Devin Thomas who Santana Moss envies for his physique. The entire offense needs visualization training. Olympic athletes use it commonly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chow184 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 The difference between campbell and brees are. Pocket presence defined in as the ability move in the pocket with eyes downfield. If you notice when Campbell steps up he tucks his head alot. Brees always has his eyes downfield. This leads me to qb vision. Brees has amazing vision and rarely stares at people. He looks down the middle of the field to hold the safeties, and uses his peripharel vision to watch the receivers. Campbell still stares wr's down . Which is painful twofold it faces the DB's a clue and it slows his progression. Think of brees vision like a flashlight and campbells like a laser beam. Third is brees has a quick release. Campbells delvery is fine now but he still holds the ball to long . On he rare occasion a wr gets open if campbells pass is late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icbmayday Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 That is some interesting training, everything that works for one qb isn't going to work for the next qb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSkins Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 That is some interesting training, everything that works for one qb isn't going to work for the next qb When multiple winning training formulas don't work with the same QB, maybe it is time to stop focusing on the training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin Man Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Larry Bird would do the same thing. I've read where he says that he'd practice for hours visualizing the court in his mind while never looking at the basket. It's essentially what a blind person does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfan Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Also, Brees was a great QB at Purdue. The best they've ever had, IMO (including Bob Griese.) He had struggles adjusting to the pro game but it's not like the talent he displayed at Purdue under Tiller didn't seem to correspond with NFL ability. He was a far superior QB at Purdue and was the best player on offense compared to Campbell who was not the best player on Auburn's offense and had one solid year where you could call him "great." Coming out of college, Drew Brees had fundamentally sound mechanics. He had trouble adjusting to the NFL game. Maybe the speed of the game bothered him at first. Who knows? Jason Campbell on the other hand had that long windup and sloppy footwork to overcome -- in addition to learning the mental side of the NFL game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOLASKINSFAN Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 This BS has nothing to so with JC, you know the man's personal life right. When has his work ethic ever been mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 This BS has nothing to so with JC, you know the man's personal life right. When has his work ethic ever been mentioned. Work ethic has nothing to do with it if you are working on the wrong things. One thing I've said in many threads and have wondered about is JC's vision. If I ran down the field 20 times, with anybody throwing me the ball, that person should be able to hit me with the ball the last 10 times easily. JC seems to always be 10 yards too far or 5 short, or 5 yards out of bounds. It's almost as if he needs work on his depth perception. Which also goes with what people say about him not hitting receivers on the sideline, and usually doesn't even try to go to the sideline. I wonder why? Maybe his vision is the problem. Even on 2 minute offense drives at the end of games he passes to players who have no chance to get out of bounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOLASKINSFAN Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Work ethic has nothing to do with it if you are working on the wrong things.One thing I've said in many threads and have wondered about is JC's vision. If I ran down the field 20 times, with anybody throwing me the ball, that person should be able to hit me with the ball the last 10 times easily. JC seems to always be 10 yards too far or 5 short, or 5 yards out of bounds. It's almost as if he needs work on his depth perception. Which also goes with what people say about him not hitting receivers on the sideline, and usually doesn't even try to go to the sideline. I wonder why? Maybe his vision is the problem. Even on 2 minute offense drives at the end of games he passes to players who have no chance to get out of bounds. If we could only get someone of your credentials to be our QB coach... what are they again? I got a second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramdizzle Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 another thread listing more reasons why to dump JC after this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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