Case Study # 2: The Big Bad Gunslinger

How well do you know the people on your team?

Following extensive background checks on specifically identified players, Mission 6 Zero begins our NFL player assessment experience with a clandestine observation of the designated player both during practice and off the field. As we prepared our customized experience, we were told by one of the coaches, “If anybody is going to have a hard time during your events, or is going to quit, it’s going to be Ricky…. I don’t think he is going to be able to make it.” I asked why. “It’s just consistency and effort,” the coach responded. “Ricky plays like an all pro on first down, but he doesn’t put forth any effort on second or third down.” Why do you have him on the team then? “I’ve come close to releasing him, but I just can’t do it,” the coach continued. “Ricky plays well on first down….he’s a high pick….and cutting him would cost us millions of dollars…. not to mention we’d have to find him a replacement which would cost us millions of dollars AND a high round draft pick.”

During practice, a specially selected Mission 6 Zero instructor provided his feedback on Ricky*, a former high first round draft pick defensive lineman. “Overall, Ricky was impressive when he was engaging another football player—whether during 11-on-11 play or during drills in which another player was holding a pad or was trying to contain him. Unfortunately, he looked fairly unremarkable when engaging the sled or when going up against a “ghost” player. When not engaged in a drill or other team activity, Ricky simply appeared to be lethargic or disinterested. Regardless, the vibe he sends out is not one of excitement or even interest. The first thing I would do is order Ricky a sleep study. It’s hard to imagine someone, especially a professional athlete who is surrounded by top performers, lacking even the basic self-awareness required to realize what kind of message his body language communicates to others. If the sleep study turns up nothing conclusive, I would consult a dietician, a counselor, someone to figure out if there’s a legitimate cause for Ricky’s apparent fatigue.”

On the practice field, Ricky exhibited body language that communicated an extreme lack of motivation that bordered on disinterest. Yet his explosiveness and potential as a physically formidable force on the field was readily apparent. Our mission 6 Zero instructor noted, “I remember watching him and thinking, “If my commander told me ‘that guy’ was coming to my A-Team, I would order him a sleep study for the first thing on Monday morning.” I mean, Ricky is obviously an imposing figure on the field. I just didn’t see any fire in him. It made me wonder how someone could get to the NFL and yet be so apparently averse to physical output.” I found my answer two days later.

After the Mission 6 Zero intangibles assessment, Ricky and I sat down for the out-brief and talked for an hour non-stop. While this giant of a guy sat in front of me, I thought back to the practice field a couple days before. I asked, “What’s your pre-game ritual? What are Saturdays like for you?” Ricky said he “pretty much just chills out.” When I asked what that meant, he explained that he just hangs out and watches movies and TV series on Netflix. I asked how late he stays up doing that, to which he replied “until about 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning—just like most nights.” I just smiled. My suspicion was validated. Ricky doesn’t sleep. Ricky is tired first thing every morning. And he just goes downhill from there.

As Ricky and I moved beyond the formal evaluation feedback, I began to dig. Ricky’s family and friends are all on the east coast. He’s fairly isolated from those closest to his heart. Ricky lives in the Extended Stay hotel within walking distance of the practice fields because house hunting always seems to end in disappointment. (Inconveniently, the houses he has most recently bid on have sold to someone else in the final hour.) Ricky has been living at this hotel for nearly three years! A multi-millionaire NFL player living at a hotel for three years doing nothing but staying up until 4:00 am watching Netflix every day.

Furthermore, Ricky’s teammates openly talked about how Ricky’s “lazy ass is probably kicked back eating cupcakes underneath a shade tree.” I would hear this later as I walked with other teams. Ricky wasn’t present when I heard this and similar comments, but the players all burst into uproarious laughter at these remarks—and there were several. My guess is, Ricky has heard plenty of that sort of banter. And he just might have heard that sort of thing his whole life.

After the out-brief, Ricky and I ended up having a really good conversation. Ricky opened up to me, as is often the case following an emotionally exhausting event like the Mission 6 Zero Intangibles assessment. I learned that Ricky is lonely and alienated. Ricky is no stranger to the not-so-friendly ribbing he receives from some players on the team. I can see him enduring the same, or worse, when he was a kid and all the years since. He may well be depressed, although I’m not qualified to render a clinical diagnosis. I’m just a Green Beret. But over the years, I’ve learned to detect when a teammate is down, when things aren’t quite right with someone on my left or right, when a “big bad gunslinger” is in need.

It is my opinion that Ricky is not just “up late” throwing marathon Netflix parties-for-one because he’s that into movies and TV series. I think he’s watching Netflix because it’s something he can do alone, something with which he can occupy his time since he knows he’s going to be awake anyway. I believe television just fills a void for Ricky. And that’s why he’s sleep deprived every day. That’s why he seems disinterested and unmotivated. That is why Ricky underperforms even though he’s such a physically gifted athlete.

A few days later, our Mission 6 Zero instructors presented our findings to the coaching staff. When we arrived at Ricky’s assessment, the coaching staff was excited, “ok, I’m dying to know how Ricky performed.” We asked, “Do you know where Ricky lives?” Silence in the room. A coach asked, “no, where?” I pointed across the street to the Extended Stay. Ricky lives there. He’s been living there for three years. We then went on to explain our findings. We addressed Ricky’s chronic sleep deprivation and the contributing factors to his lack of sleep. We talked about how Ricky starts his days “on empty” which is siphoning off his physical energy, mental toughness, and possibly his emotional resiliency. We discussed Ricky’s lack of peer support, personal friendship, and general happiness.

Everything we discussed is an issue that is solvable; rest, security, and social interaction (camaraderie).

After the overall assessment, one of the coaches said, “I can’t believe that about Ricky, I had no idea.” “You know we were just discussing today about cutting Ricky,” the coach continued. “Knowing what we know now, we definitely won’t be doing that.” “You guys literally just saved us millions of dollars and wasted time spent on paying his owed salary, finding someone to replace him, possibly drafting someone to replace him, AND spending money on that player’s salary!”

In combat, you fight for the man to your left and to your right because you know him as a person, you know his family, and you are his friend. Because of our experiences, there are times when that “big, bad gunslinger” is having a difficult time emotionally. According to statistics, 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Sometimes, the military’s deadliest battlegrounds aren’t across the globe, they are across the street. Sometimes, coming home from war is more dangerous than leaving to fight in one. During these moments, it’s up to you to be able to identify the signs of a teammate in distress. There is a power in vulnerability. The gunslinger knows that his team won’t let him down and no matter what, he won’t let his team down either. When needed, the gunslinger is going to reach out and offer help. The gunslinger fights for his team…because they are truly his brothers. The gunslinger fights out of love.

*Name changed