"So much of a professional athlete's success depends upon not necessarily the play itself but how he deals with... always saying how you deal with good, is just as important as how you deal with bad"
About this Quote
Favre is smuggling a quiet rebuke into the language of locker-room wisdom: the real separator isn’t the highlight, it’s the emotional aftercare. By insisting that “the play itself” isn’t the whole story, he reframes athletic excellence as a temperament problem, not a talent problem. That’s a subtle jab at the mythology of the born winner. You can have the arm, the speed, the instincts; if you can’t metabolize what happens next, you’re brittle.
The quote’s most interesting pivot is its suspicion of “good.” Athletes are trained to fear adversity, but Favre points to a more socially acceptable hazard: praise, momentum, the week where everything goes right. Success invites ego inflation, complacency, and a kind of narrative trance where you start believing your own brand. “How you deal with good” is really about resisting the seduction of comfort and attention - the postgame microphones, the hero edit, the sense that you’ve arrived. It’s also about staying coachable when the world is telling you you’re uncoachable.
In the context of pro sports - where performance is public, quantified, and endlessly replayed - emotional regulation becomes a competitive skill. Bad plays test resilience; good plays test discipline. Favre’s point lands because it treats confidence as something you manage, not something you possess. The irony is that this is the least glamorous part of greatness: the boring, internal work that keeps yesterday’s victory from turning into tomorrow’s entitlement.
The quote’s most interesting pivot is its suspicion of “good.” Athletes are trained to fear adversity, but Favre points to a more socially acceptable hazard: praise, momentum, the week where everything goes right. Success invites ego inflation, complacency, and a kind of narrative trance where you start believing your own brand. “How you deal with good” is really about resisting the seduction of comfort and attention - the postgame microphones, the hero edit, the sense that you’ve arrived. It’s also about staying coachable when the world is telling you you’re uncoachable.
In the context of pro sports - where performance is public, quantified, and endlessly replayed - emotional regulation becomes a competitive skill. Bad plays test resilience; good plays test discipline. Favre’s point lands because it treats confidence as something you manage, not something you possess. The irony is that this is the least glamorous part of greatness: the boring, internal work that keeps yesterday’s victory from turning into tomorrow’s entitlement.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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