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Famous football pep talks are a favorite subject of mine, and even though the famous Knute Rockne “Fight, fight, fight” speech is very inspiring, the ones I like best are the ones that are subtle. I guess if I were a player on a team, those are the kinds of speeches I would respond best to. Here are a few legendary but subtle football pep talks:

At halftime of a game in which his Notre Dame squad was playing poorly, Rockne never came into the locker room. His players sat there wondering what was going on, since the fabled coach was known for his halftime inspirational talks. Then, as the halftime was winding down, Rockne opened the locker room door, stuck his head in and said,  “OK. Half a minute left. Let’s go, girls!”

John Madden’s Oakland Raiders were about to take the field against their fierce division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs had a horse named Warpaint that would ride around the field when the Chiefs scored, ridden by a guy dressed in Indian garb, pretty much the Chiefs’ mascot. Madden, in his typical hyper style, red-faced and with arms flailing, yelled out “Hey! Hey! I don’t wanna see that damn horse on the field once today!!” Now I would run through walls for a guy like that.

Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns had just been brought into the NFL after being a dominant team in the old All-America Football Conference, and for their first game in the NFL the Browns were scheduled to face the reigning league champion Philadelphia Eagles, led by their superstar back Steve Van Buren. The pundits of the day spent the week before the game writing how the Eagles would roll over the upstart kids from “that minor league” and how Van Buren would show the new kids from Cleveland how the game was played. The Browns players were a little worried that Brown, usually a master motivator, seemed to be mostly silent the whole week prior to the game as everyone in the press, and some in the Eagles organization, laughed at the prospect of the Browns competing against the NFL champs and having any chance of slowing down their backfield sensation, Van Buren. Then, as the team was getting ready to take the field, Brown turned to his players and uttered these words: “Just think, men, in a minute you’ll get to touch the great Steve Van Buren.” Final score: Browns 35, Eagles 10.

Vince Lombardi was known for his line “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” He has actually been villified for that comment by some in society who feel that this philosophy goes too far, that it means to win at all costs and the hell with everything else. In today’s “everybody is special” society where people advocate not keeping score in sporting events and “every kid needs to receive a trophy”, Lombardi is considered somewhat of a villain. But those people don’t seem to understand that Lombardi was a great teacher of  not only the game but of life to his players. Many of his former players still say that decisions they made long after their playing careers were over were shaped by what Lombardi had taught them. Below is a short audio clip of a speech by Lombardi that is an example of his real philosophy, not just the one-line quote attributed to him. I think it’s pretty inspirational.

Unknown – Win Win Win