Probably both. The two books have always seemed closely related to me.
"Outliers" makes the case the what appears to be genius - intellectual or physical - is really a combination of opportunity and those classic directions to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice. From the wikipedia page…
"Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practising the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours."
It's the best explanation as any for Brady's sublimely beautiful throwing motion. Practice, practice, practice.
"Blink" argues that what may appear to be intuitive or even extrasensory perception is actually recognition; insight developed through years of experience. The key concept in "Blink" is "thin-slicing." Again from wikipedia (because if it's on the internet, it must be true):
"The term means making very quick inferences about the state, characteristics or details of an individual or situation with minimal amounts of information. Brief judgments based on thin-slicing are similar to those judgments based on much more information. Judgments based on thin-slicing can be as accurate, or even more accurate, than judgments based on much more information."
I think that captures Tom Brady making his pre-snap reads rather well. Understanding the characteristics or details of a situation with minimal amounts of information. 55's the Mike!
In a way, we shouldn't be surprised by how well Tom Brady is playing at age 39. His devotion to health and nutrition is legendary and I don't think we even know the half of it. Lots of NFL quarterbacks have throwing coaches; Brady has a body coach. He doesn't drink Gatorade; he drinks something that should probably be called "Goaterade." Avocado ice cream. Would you eat that frozen baby poo every day to be the best at what you do? No. You wouldn't. You'd scoff. You'd tell yourself it doesn't matter. It couldn't possibly matter.
Tom Brady knows everything matters. The Goaterade. The Avocado ice cream. It all matters. And he gives zero fucks what you or anyone else thinks about it.
He's spent 17 years of his professional life practicing, watching film, playing, reading defenses, making throws. Brady has approximately 795 hours of game-time experience as a pro. Let's say something in the neighborhood of 6,500 hours of practice and film study. Throw in high school and college and I'll guess Brady is in that 10,000 hour ballpark.
As pointed out on Pats Pulpit by the essential Rich Hill, the Benjamin Button of quarterbacks is actually getting better.
Take a look at his career stats and particularly the numbers for 2013-2016. The trend lines for his efficiency stats are startling. The 2016 season was arguably the second best of his career and easily the third best…
- The incredible 2007 season with 50 TD and just 8 interceptions was Brady's best for Completion%, TD%, yards per attempt and Passer Rating.
- The unanimous MVP season in 2010 was also better than 2017 for TD% and better than 2007 for INT%.
- 2017 was Brady's best for Total QBR and INT% and his second best season for Passer Rating and a very close second to 2007 in yards per attempt.
Go ahead pigskin pundits and bobbleheads. Tell yourselves Brady isn't the MVP. He only played 12 games (not his fault). The Patriots were 3-1-0 without him (but they didn't finish 12-4-0, did they?). I guess as a Patriots fan I should get mad about this but I really don't care. I know Brady doesn't. He ain't playin' your game. Tom Brady is the game. He isn't about regular season MVPs. Tom Brady is about rings, baby.
Think about those trend lines again. Think about Brady playing three more years and getting better each of those years. Not just a 5th ring but a 6th and maybe even a 7th. Think about a season at age 42 that tops 2007, 2010 and 2017 because that could happen. I'd say that was amazing if it was anyone other than Tom Brady.
Greatest of all time?
Is that still a question?
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