Leadership in the Super Bowl

The quarterback is a leadership position. When one looks back on past Super Bowl winners, they always associate the team with their quarterback. The '71 Colts had Johnny Unitas, the Niners in the '80s had Montana, and more recently, the Super Bowl teams of the Pats had Brady. These QBs led their respective teams not only on the offensive side of the ball, but emotionally as well. In Super Bowl XXIII, the Niners got the ball back on their own eight yard line with three minutes left, down three points to the Bengals. Most offenses would have buckled under the pressure of driving the length of the field against the best defense in the league, but Montanta exuded an inner confidence that fed the rest of his players. Thus, the Niners marched 92 yards down the field as Montana connected on a touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left in the game. Montana was a real leader.

This is the reason I knew the Colts would win the Super Bowl. The Colts had a leader at quarterback in Peyton Manning while the Bears did not in Rex Grossman. The Bears team leader, on the other hand, was middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. However, while middle linebacker is a very important position and is often the leader of the defense, it is not the leader of the team. This is why the Bears cracked at important times during the game.

The problem with Grossman is not physical talent. He has a rocket for an arm and is one of the better deep passers in the league. His problem lies in his leadership skills. He always looks scared and like he's about to make another mistake. If we only examine Grossman's stats, he does not look so bad on paper: 20/28, 165 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 1 lost fumble. That is not a bad line. However, these stats don't show the intangebles... such as how the turnovers occured. At the end of the second quarter, the Bears foced a fumble at midfield and got the ball back with a minute and a half remaining in the first half. This changed the momentum as the Bears had an opportunity to merely kick a field goal and head into the locker room with the lead. However, Rex fumbled the ensuing snap and gave the ball directly back to the Colts. This lost all potential momentum the Bears could have had going into the second half. Rex's interceptions were even worse. In the fourth quarter with 13 minutes left and down only five points, Rex threw one of the worst passes in Super Bowl history. His reciever, Muhammad, ran a hitch and go route. However, the corner, Hayden, was sitting eight yards back in coverage. So when Rex threw the deep pass, it fell right in the arms of Hayden who ran it back for a touchdown, which essentially put the game out of reach. On this play, and many others, Rex made up his mind on where he was throwing the ball before the ball was snapped. He didn't look at Hayden and see he was playing off Muhammad, which would have forced him to check down to a different reciever. Rex Grossman is simply not a leader.

A real leader (not only in football), such as Peyton Manning, navigates the terrain and reacts to what he sees. Manning walks to the line of scrimmage with three or four plays in his head and often changes the play at the line in response to how the defense is lined up. Manning would never throw into coverage because he made his mind up before the ball was snapped. If we examine Mannings stats, they are good, but not mind-blowing: 25/38, 247 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. However, Manning did not make any of the mental mistakes Grossman made such as fumbling snaps or throwing into coverage. He also made crucuial plays at crucial times of the game. Such as hitting Reggie Wayne on a 53 yard TD pass in the first quarter. Or throwing accross his body on third and long to hit Dallas Clark for a first down. Manning put his team in a situation to win the game while Grossman did not.

This is very similar to how companies and organizations work. Organizations with strong leaders who react to the current political and economic environment are successful. Stubborn leaders, on the other hand, who are stuck in their old fashioned ways often get burned for not adapting to current changes. Organizations and football teams must be sure to have strong leaders who can adapt to changes in leaderhip positions or suffer the innevitable consequences.