Athletes are decision makers. When we watch sports, we are watching a situation were competitors are in a hotbed of decision making. The stronger the decision makers, the more we admire them. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Andre Agassi. They may not always be right, but they are decisive. This is a beautiful thing to watch, since "decision making" rarely occurs in real life.
On a daily basis, we put off "decision making" as much as possible, analyzing the same scenarios over and over until the wheels come off - and usually hurt ourselves in this neurotic process. If you can learn to be a "decision maker", you can separate yourself from the herd and attack your goals with overwhelming force.
We have seen this scenario play out many times in sports, but never as dramatically as John Fox and Tim Tebow with 2011's Denver Broncos team. Welcome back to Robert Greene's "The 33 Strategies of War", as seen through the prism of sports.
SLOW SLOW, QUICK QUICK
On October 23, 2011, the Denver Broncos had a pathetic record of 1-4 and were headed for another disastrous season under first year coach, John Fox and General Manager, John Elway. No one expected the team to excel in this season, which led to the decision of starting college sensation Tim Tebow, who was scouted by many critics as a great college quarterback with little promise as a pro. Tebow liked to run the ball. This was all good in college, but in the pros, athletes where much faster and would demolish him.
As many predicted, Tebow's first start against the Miami Dolphins was a horror show. In the first three quarters, he was sacked 5 times and accomplished a mind boggling 4 passes for 40 yards. He tried to run, as many expected, and he was usually battered like a rag doll when he did. Ironically, Tebow was being celebrated at halftime for his accomplishments playing for Florida in college, though the crowd booed him.
With 5:23 left, the Broncos were down 15-0 and just about ready to go home 1-5. When Tebow somehow hit Matt Willis for a 42 yard gain and two plays later scrambled for a touchdown. Score 15-7. Somehow, the Broncos recovered an onside kick and gave Tebow a chance to tie the game. Again, Tebow completed a miracle pass, completed a 2 point conversion and tied the game, 15-15, bleeding the game into an improbable overtime. Miraculously, the Broncos won 18-15 and everyone began talking about Tebow being a prophet (Tebow was a Christian and drew a cross on his face in college).
A week later, the Broncos were demolished 45-10 by the Detroit Lions and most people were chalking up the miracle win the week before as an isolated incident. But two weeks later, against the Kansas City Chiefs, something odd occurred. The Broncos were again down 10-0 at halftime. Tebow had an amazing 0 yards passing and in fact would not complete a pass until almost the end of the third quarter and somehow... won the game 17-10. The Broncos were now 4-5 with Tebow accomplishing only two passes during the entire game.
Some spoke of miracles, others spoke of Tebow's will, while head coach John Fox said,"I'll leave the statistics to you guys. The statistic that is important in the locker room is winning."
A week later, against the New York Jets, Tebow only accomplished 1 pass and had 11 yards rushing by the 4th quarter (numbers that are astoundingly awful in football). Somehow, he ran against the vaunted Jets defense all the way into the end zone and brought his team to another miraculous come back, bringing the Broncos to 5-5.
Tebow rode three more miracle wins, against the Vikings and two overtime thrillers against the Chargers and Bears. Suddenly, the Broncos were 8-5 and in perfect position to make the playoffs. John Fox spoke of making the playbook simple for Tebow but most critics did not see this strategy lasting. Defenses would figure how to stop Tebow.
And they were right. The Broncos found themselves losing three weeks in a row, including two humiliating blowout losses, to end the season 8-8. However, this record was sufficient in Denver hosting their first home playoff game in years. They would play the previous year's AFC champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tebow would be facing a vicious, merciless defense and no one thought the Broncos stood a chance. They should just enjoy being in the playoffs. Afterall, they started the season 1-4 and were lucky to be here.
Again, Tebow pulled off a miracle overtime thriller, beating the favored Steelers with pin prick accurate passes, which no one had seen him do all year - or ever. Tebow stunned the favored Steelers 29-23 in his first playoff victory, before being a eliminated a week later by the New England Patriots in another blowout loss.
Still, a second round playoff appearance was far beyond what anyone expected from a team that began the season with a dismal 1-4 record. A perfect ending to what was now known as "Tebowmania!"
INTERPRETATION
During the offseason, back up quarterback Brady Quinn summed up Tebow's unusual success with this statement: "We've had a lot, I guess, luck, to put it simply. The entire game, the defensive line is chasing the quarterback around, and that wears down the pass rush. Meanwhile, the defensive backs are chasing receivers, but you only throw eight passes, so they start to feel lazy. It only takes that one play, that one big pass, for a touchdown."
Quinn was criticized for making these remarks, but aside from the "luck" comment, his hypothesis was right on the money. What Quinn didn't realize was that John Fox actually depended on Tim Tebow's chaos and rawness, even organizing it into his strategy. Fox employed an ancient Chinese strategy called "slow, slow, quick, quick."
The first "slow" could not work without having a great defense. Fox identified this as the strength of his team. The more the Broncos could prevent the opponent from scoring, the more they could slow time down. This was done with detailed preparation. If this first failed, the Broncos were usually blown out of the game.
The second "slow" was, what Robert Greene calls "a set up. Which involved tricking the enemy into lowering it's guard, lulling it into complacency." This was done by demonstrating Tebow's godawful quarterback mechanics, basically exhibiting the terrible quarterback everyone thought he was. Against the Chiefs, Tebow didn't even pass the ball the first half of the game. The defense was bored into submission. As Quinn observed, "[the defense] starts to feel lazy."
Then the first "quick", usually in the form of Tebow completing a deep pass to set up the first touchdown. This would awaken the opponent and catch them off guard. They begin to tense up.
And the final "quick": this is the part when the enemy starts to make uncommon mistakes, becoming uncharacteristically clumsy as they realize they weren't up by so many points afterall. This is when Tebow was at his best, mixing his passing and running game. Even his own offense had no idea what he was going to do. This would lead to the second score and the victory. Fox allowed Tebow to ride this "read option" into what is considered one of the most improbable seasons in football history.
KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT
Life is faster now than it has ever been. We live in the information age where we are dropped out of a cargo plane from the moment we wake up into a freefall of Facebook, Twitter, Spam emails, Fantasy Sports, free porn, 700 Channel Cable TV, iPhone apps, and on and on... most people are exhausted simply dealing with this endless barrage. All they can do is react and accept their fate.
You can break the spell by building your decision making muscle. Create a taut plan. Become organized and focused. Pretend to be like everyone else, reacting to the asteroid field of bullshit. When people least expect it, unleash a volcano of decision making. Make decision after decision after decision - like Tim Tebow did. And you too will look like a God. In your profession, in your relationship, amongst your friends, the more decisions you make, the more you will be looked at as a leader, while people are frozen and awed by your strength. Most importantly, you will suddenly have a tight grip on your life and its direction - and you will have built a legion of followers to help you achieve this end.
REVERSAL
During the "slow, slow" part of your campaign, it is important that you do not allow this to become the rhythm of your habits. When the Broncos got blown out, they failed to recognize that they were putting themselves to sleep, while their opponents were beating them relentlessly - and usually it was too late when they woke up. Never allow yourself to be overwhelmed like this. Making decisions is the only way out of any deficit.
