Brandon Marshall on The Longest Two Weeks in Football | The Game Inside The Games, Ep. 4

Michael Gervais (0:20)

Welcome to The Game Inside The Games, presented by Microsoft Co-Pilot. I am Sport and Performance Psychologist, Dr. Michael Gervais.

Brandon Marshall (0:27)

And I'm Brandon Marshall, 13-year NFL veteran, and we're breaking down the psychology of the pivotal moments in the Super Bowl that can make or break a Super Bowl dream.

Michael Gervais (0:38)

In the two weeks between the championship game and the Super Bowl, teams have what seems like a rare gift in football, extra time to recover, to reset, to prepare.

But instead of a break, oftentimes the opposite takes over. The Super Bowl becomes everything. There is so much noise. The analysis, the expectations, both physically and mentally, it is flat out on. The game is everywhere. In every conversation, every news segment, every commercial, there's doubters, there's cynics, there are supporters. And the players, they've got to create this bubble to manage it well. And for those who are unskilled with the mental part of the game, the moments meant for rest and recovery can be a breeding ground for anxiety.

Brandon Marshall (1:25)

And here's the thing, stress isn't just a performance issue, it's a mental health issue. If you already deal with anxiety, depression or pressure triggered struggles, the Super Bowl magnifies everything. Today, we're breaking down what happens when there's no off switch for two weeks. Why some players thrive in the pressure and why some get crushed by it.

Michael Gervais (1:47)

Okay, Brandon, give us a play when your number was called. So you're in the huddle, you know that the ball is coming to you. And walk us through what that's like in two ways. When you're on your game, when you know when you're running out to get lined up, it's like, all right, here we go.

Give us the take on when you're like, oh man, I'm not quite feeling right right now. Walk us through that experience.

Brandon Marshall (2:14)

Well, first, it's before the moment, right? It's the situation. In football, the wins and losses really are, you know, created in situational football, right? So 2010 is my contract year. It's important information.

You know, there's a lot on the line for me personally, so there's a lot of pressure there. We're talking about, you know, my entire life, right? Waiting for this moment, working for this moment of creating generational wealth for my family and being always okay. Because as a football player, you're one injury away from the game being taken away from you. So it's contract year, 2010, playing for the Denver Broncos. The Dallas Cowboys are in Denver. Josh McDaniel's first year as the head coach. We start off 6-0. This is a defining moment for our team. The Dallas Cowboys are here. We're in the fourth quarter, situational football, two-minute offense. It was my time to actually sit because Coach McDaniel's incorporated something that was really challenging for me as a starter, as one of the best wide receivers in the game. His first year in Denver, he said, you know what, we're going to rotate our wide receivers. This is unheard of in the National Football League. No, Brandon Marshall should start.

Michael Gervais (3:36)

You want to go to your guy.

Brandon Marshall (3:37)

You want to go to your guy. Yeah. And so I ran to the sideline. I said, Coach, it's two-minute drive. And Coach Adam Gase is saying that I'm supposed to be out of the game. He said, don't worry about it, Brandon. Doesn't matter. We're actually going three wide. I said, okay, no problem. So I say that because the moment, it wasn't about the moment in that time, it was about the situation. And I'm like, Coach, I need to be in this situation to create the moment. And what ended up happening was the Dallas Cowboys at the time played man to man.

And so I ran there and I said, Coach, okay, I'm in. Now we need to play, we need to call Hitch. If we call Hitch, this is a route, it's a five yard route where I turn around. If he's off, then we'll just have a five yard completion and I can make a move and maybe make something happen. But if he presses me, I convert that Hitch. Yeah, it turns into a go, potentially a touchdown. He calls the play, he listens to me. Well, first he makes sure as I'm in the game, then he calls the play, he listens to me.

Michael Gervais (4:35)

Wait, hold on, you're directing this whole thing.

Brandon Marshall (4:37)

Yeah.

Michael Gervais (4:38)

I was asking about your mindset and you're kind of sitting above the whole thing, right? The situational awareness and you're like really hyper aware, contextually of everything that's going on, right? So you're kind of pulling the pieces together, like, look, coach, I know what we agreed on, but like now's the moment, like, give me, and he's like, don't worry about it, we got you, you're good.