I think "leadership" is one of those overused cliches to explain some of the unexplainable in football-like why teams succeed or don't succeed.

 

People who aren't privy to what transpires in a locker room often cite leadership as a player's or team's strength or weakness.

 

However, at the risk of describing myself with the above, the article on the front page seems to describe that ideal with an account that absolutely made me smile, and illustrates one of the reasons cited for signing Bryant.

 

http://www.jaguars.com/news/article-Edit...90a602b842

 

In relevant part...

 

Quote: 

First, defensive end <a class="" href='http://www.jaguars.com/team/roster/red-bryant/f1cbd9a0-c3d1-41ef-8e54-b6e382296e21/' title="Red Bryant">Red Bryant</a> stopped practice, and did so after a play that the defensive end later said didn’t live up his standards, or the standards of the defense.

It was a play that didn’t seem disastrous to the naked eye. Running back <a class="" href='http://www.jaguars.com/team/roster/jordan-todman/77924aaa-2e55-4747-9243-666ce033c244/' title="Jordan Todman">Jordan Todman</a> got outside the defense for a long run, and if nothing else happened the play may not even have made the “highlights” section of your average website/newspaper camp report.

But something else did happen. Bryant, who signed with the team as a free agent in the offseason, stopped practice and basically started the session over.

 

“Stopping the run is something I take pride in,” Bryant said. “I just felt like the first play I hurt the defense and set the tone for things going downhill. I wanted to call everybody up and tell them it wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t good enough for me, and I wanted to let the guys know it’s OK to hold me accountable.

“We’re counting on one another. That’s the difference between winning and losing, the little things. You have to hold each other accountable.”

 

Stop. Re-read that quote.  If you want to know why the Jaguars signed Bryant – aside from his 6-feet-4, 323-pound, run-stuffing frame – it’s in the quote. Leadership oozes from every word. Bryant, a captain on the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl championship team a year ago, said the Jaguars stacked up a bunch of good defensive practices last week, and that there was no reason to stop stacking just because of lack of focus on one play.

Given the choice to speak up or not to speak up …

Well, Bryant didn’t see it as a choice at all.

“We have to take care of it … right now,” Bryant said. “We can’t say, ‘We’re going to do it the next day.’ One thing I’ve learned is, ‘Tomorrow never comes.’ You have to work on the now.”

 

I sure hope the young guys -and the vets-learn from this.  I have to think over time, this team will apply this lesson and learn to win-consistently.

 

 

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