Ricardo McDonald's Sportscity Blog

Former Cincinnati Bengal and Chicago Bears Line Backer Ricardo McDonald has joined the Sportscity.com team. Throughout each week, McDonald will bring his own perspective on all things NFL, from current games and news, to past experiences.

Mind Over Matter

Written by Ricardo McDonald on January, 30th 2008

On “Conference Championship” weekend, we saw some unprecedented cold weather conditions. There were many people who sat in their comfy recliners and thought to themselves, “What kind of a nut could go out in sub-zero plus weather conditions to play a boy’s game?” The fact of the matter is all those players were focused one thing - a chance to play in their life long dream, the Super Bowl - hopefully emerging victorious. You see, for a lot of those players this dream began when they started playing Pop Warner and continued through high school and then into college. Just the thought of the weather affecting this dream can be quite a challenge because not only do you have to go out there and physically compete at a high level, but your concentration and attention to detail has to be extremely high as well.

For those of you, who have never played on the professional level in freezing cold temperatures, let me give you some quick insight. Imagine stepping onto the football field and within the first 5 minutes your toes, nose, ears, and fingertips are frozen. The ground is almost like concrete, the wind is howling, and with every move your bones cringe. You now are on the football field and have to make physical contact with your opponent for 60 minutes or more. The average person you meet on the street would think you’re nuts, but when you have been dreaming your whole natural life about something like the Super Bowl, you don’t let anything or anyone stop you from achieving your goal.

The Super Bowl is very special in its own right. Whether you win or lose, you are still among the two best teams in the National Football League. The National Football League itself is a very close knit fraternity, but the number of guys who have ever gotten a chance to play in the Super Bowl, win or lose, are very few and far in between.

I use to hear my coaches preach that there are things in your life you absolutely have no control over like the weather, your opponents’ attitude, and the fans. The one thing you can control is the effort you put forth on every play. Effort can compensate for a missed assignment, a break down in coverage or a bad defensive call. The teams who are able to not let the weather affect there mental and physical state are better off. There is still a goal to reach and all 53 guys have got to be on the same page.

Bottom line is when it’s cold everyone is cold... including your opponent. Most people believe that teams who play in warm climates are at a disadvantage when they play in a city where there is snow and ice. The fact of the matter is these guys are pros’ – They’re paid a lot of money to do a job. When I played, most of the guys never let the weather keep them from doing their jobs. The New York Giants proved this with their win over a heavily favored Green Bay Packer team. Despite the brutal below zero temperatures, they pulled out a win, when all odds were against them. It’s about mind over matter! The great Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is not everything, but it is the only thing!” Way to go Giants!

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