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It’s Super Bowl weekend with the Los Angeles Ram squaring off against the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday (February 13).

Last week, legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady announced he was retiring from the game after 22 seasons.

He leaves an impressive record of 243 wins, 624 touchdown passes and 84,520 passing yards which will take a very long time to be surpassed.

He played for the New England Patriots for 20 seasons before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He ends his career having won seven Super Bowls and five Super Bowl MVPs.

In his last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he led the NFL in touchdown passes (43) and passing yards (5,316).

Drafted with the 199th pick in 2000, he began his career in the NFL as an unfancied, with no one seeing him coming. But with a tenacious work ethic, discipline, and commitment, he went on to chalk up the greatest accomplishments of anyone who ever played in the league.

Total commitment

In business, there are lessons to be learnt from Brady, most importantly, you have to be all in. Your commitment to the task at hand must be total.

“I have always believed the sport of football is an all-in proposition – if a 100 per cent competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed and success is what I love so much about our game,” said Brady.

In other words, you can’t be half-arsed, a dilettante with a side-hustle mentality, and expect great success.

So many talk about business in terms of making money, having a big house, fancy cars, drinking DP, money in the bank, “crypto wealth”.

Brady played for the love of the game and for the team he represented.

“I played for the name on the front of my jersey and the name on the back of my jersey. I played for my friends, family and our community – every single one of you – that have given me what I have today,” said Brady.

Companies are like teams and, like sports teams, its about the sum of parts, pulling together, working in unison for a defined purpose.

Throughout the years, Brady’s team mates have spoken about his mentality and commitment to the team, his leadership qualities, his quiet strengths. Businesses are built on character and principles and these have been the hallmarks of those companies which have endured down the ages.

There is an explanation for Brady’s longevity and leaving the game on top at the age of 44.

Control your emotions

Tom Brady always maintains eye contact and is deliberate and concise with his pronouncements. Just watch his interviews. You can see he has picked up a lot from Kevin Costner’s character in the baseball classic movie Bull Durham (write this down: “We have to play one day at a time. I’m just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club”).

“I don’t want to give my power away to other people by letting my own emotions be subjected to what their thoughts or opinions are.”

Tom Brady

He never gets drawn into emotional excesses or drama. He remains friendly, polite but always on point. More importantly, he is in control.

“I don’t want to give my power away to other people by letting my own emotions be subjected to what their thoughts or opinions are,” Brady explained.

Be cool and keep cool. Develop your skills and don’t just rely on talent

We all have different gifts or are blessed with certain attributes. Me? I’m useless with a tool kit or having to sort out problems under the hood of a car.

In life, just as in business, you have to work on your skills, realise your strengths and weaknesses and adapt. Always be looking to improve, be definitive about what you bring to the table.

What you can’t be today, you can be tomorrow.

“I wasn’t blessed with a lot of things they wrote about. What do they look for? They want someone strong, they want someone who can have all these physical traits but I didn’t have all those physical traits at the time.

“So I had to work to develop other traits – leadership, perseverance, determination, work ethic and I think some of these things were a part of me. Discipline is key, and you become a professional athlete but what other skills have you developed? You can’t rely on just being the most gifted, the most talented because everyone is talented.

“So what are the things I have been able to develop? I was fortunate to be in very competitive environments. I’m not going to bring the typical things you are looking for, but if you give me time to develop, I can develop into somebody who could be a great leader of a team, be very disciplined and set the tone. Have a great work ethic. These are the things I enjoyed then and I still enjoy these things now,” said Brady in an interview with Jemele Hill, reflecting on his career.

You have to work for it and earn it. Don’t give up

There can be no doubt that Tom Brady has earned his success. The record speaks for itself. Businesses are built and whatever fortune comes your company’s way, more often than not comes from hard work and earning it.

Brady is a testament to this.

“Tom’s rags to riches story is pretty well-chronicled. He wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. At Michigan, he was the second string guy and then the third string guy. He wasn’t drafted until the sixth round. His scouting report said he was slow, had an average arm, and below average QB skills. Not only did he not give up, I think he always believed he was great. And he worked for it. That’s enormously inspiring to me,” wrote filmmaker Gotham Chopra.

Have heart and ignore the noise

Starting a business is taking a risk… a big risk that may not pay off. To go through the ups and downs requires having heart and will. You have to be tough and be made of the right stuff.

You have to ask yourself the question – Do you have what it takes?

These qualities have not escaped Tom Brady’s attention and he applied it to his NFL career and in becoming the best QB in the game.

“You got to have will and heart. The magic you are looking for is the will and not giving up. The love of your dream is in your heart.

“Ignore the noise. Believe in yourself, believe in what you are doing. Believe in the process, believe in your team mates. These are the things that are important. These are the things that matter,” said Tom Brady, the man who left the arena way better than he entered it.