Today, there is only one tent in the world that might just get more action than the big top at Barnum & Bailey—and that’s the blue one on the sidelines of NFL games.
Football fans (and fantasy players) know that there is nothing worse than seeing your favorite star head into the injury tent during a game. But it seems to happen all the time.
Injuries are a part of the game—but it’s what a team does in the wake of those injuries that matters most. For evidence, just look at the San Francisco 49ers.
According to Rotowire, prior to Week Six, the team in the Bay has suffered the most injuries out of any squad this season in the NFL, with 24 total players injured and 18 on injured lists.
And yet the squad boasts an undefeated record at 5-0, one of only three teams in the NFL that still are undefeated.
That’s astounding.
Not only that, but San Fran sits atop perhaps the most difficult division in the sport.
Over recent seasons, much has been made about the team’s practice facility and how it might be bad for players’ health. That power substation might just have to go. But despite all the hype around the facility, the Niners haven’t suffered a loss this year.
Why? The team has mastered a next man up mentality. And it starts with the QB.
Selected in the 7th round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the 262nd pick, Brock Purdy is second in MVP odds today at DraftKings. If he wins the award, that would be like the guy in the mail room becoming an award-winning CEO.
The 49ers took Purdy 259 spots after QB Trey Lance, who the team selected the year prior with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft. (Lance was dumped by the 49ers and is now on his third team.)
Yes, Purdy saw 262 players find homes before he could.
Indeed, each selection must have seemed like a stab to the heart—wow, another team doesn’t want me. But Purdy never let that define him. He could have walked into 49ers camp on the first day feeling like an intern, but instead he won the corner office.
That’s how you have to act in sports. But it’s the same in business.
When something doesn’t go your way—shoot, when 261 things don’t go your way—you have a choice. You could wallow in what you’ve lost or you can move on and do something great. Purdy is showing the power of choosing the latter.
It’s often said that the most steadying force on an NFL is the QB. New England Patriots fans understood that for much of the 21st century thanks to Tom Brady. And like the 49ers, the Pats were led by a QB who was taken in the final rounds.
There’s something to that.
Brady and Purdy had to assure themselves that they had what it took to win—despite the fact the draft showed that no NFL teams really believed it. Then they brought that assurance to their teams.
When it comes to our own careers today, we must ask ourselves if we have that same self-assurance? When something goes wrong—when an injury happens, metaphorically or in reality—how do we respond?
In the AFC, the only undefeated team left is the Kansas City Chiefs. The team experienced its own setback earlier this season when WR Tyquan Thornton went down after an illegal tackle caused his leg to fracture.
Somehow, some way, the Chiefs responded and won the game.
It’s true, the following moments after an injury can feel chaotic. But a minute or two later, the referee must blow the whistle and life goes on.
It seems cruel, but if you want to stay in the game, you have to respond accordingly.
