Washington Football Team is embodying Kobe Bryant’s ‘Mamba Mentality’
The Washington Football Team is building a Mamba Mentality.
We’ve all heard the term Mamba Mentality. It epitomizes everything Kobe Bryant did on the court.
It wasn’t just working hard, it was working harder than everyone else. It wasn’t just watching game film, it was breaking down film to understand weaknesses in the defense and areas for growth.
It wasn’t just a daily routine, but it was a process of mastering the basics of the game. It was an obsessive drive to focus on your goals and not let anything hold you back. Not pain. Not personal challenges. Nothing!
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"“Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change. Don’t let it stop you from being who you can be”, said Kobe Bryant."
Growth is a painful process. It hurts when you’ve been a part of a losing culture and somebody comes in to change it. When all you’ve known is losing, it becomes a habit. That’s what Ron Rivera was brought in here to change, and he has.
When he went for the oft-questioned two-point conversion against the Giants in Week 6 and Washington ended up losing by 1, that was painful for the players and for the fans. But, the players bought into the vision. They bought into the culture. They saw that Coach Rivera believed in them.
So the pain was knowing you were becoming winners internally but not seeing those results reflected on the field. That pain was hearing that you were a part of the worst division in NFL history.
But through that pain, the team never stopped, and just like Kobe said, the team changed. They started putting everything together and are in the midst of a four-game winning streak. Their defense is a force to be reckoned with.
After the win against the 49ers, Chase Young was asked how the team feels about being in control of their own destiny, in terms of making the playoffs.
"[We’re] not done yet. We got some more games left. We got to keep our head down, we got to keep moving. I like to think, ‘What would Kobe do?’ Kobe wouldn’t be smiling, he would put his head down and keep working till he achieved what he wanted to achieve. So I feel like that’s the vibe of the whole team right now. We’re not satisfied and we’re going to keep going."
And where do you think that vibe springs from? Look no further than Coach Rivera and Alex Smith.