On this week’s episode of Sport Psychology Today, Dr. Andrew Jacobs speaks Washington Times sports reporter Matthew Paras about the NFL playoffs.
As the NFL playoffs have begun, the pressures to survive and move on becomes more and more stressful.
For many teams, the expectations set at the beginning of the season can play a key role in how a team succeeds or fails.
In our latest edition of Sport Psychology Today, I interviewed Washington Times sports reporter, Matthew Paras about his perspective covering an NFL team for the season.
Having worked with NFL players throughout my 37 years as a sport psychologist, I have gotten to understand many of the demands and stressors they feel each week as they prepare for their respective opponent.
For many of these players who are able to have a long career they have been able to keep things in perspective.
With the NFL Players Association stating that the average career span of an NFL player being less than 4 years, many put pressure on themselves to succeed and it can effect their self-confidence.
The athletes who are able to survive seem to have an ability to not get too high or get too low emotionally. They appear to have good relationships with their position coaches and the head coach. And they have learned how to deal with failure in a positive way.
We discussed his perspective as a reporter in a locker room and how he observes the interactions between coaches and players and how they deal with the adversity that comes with playing in the NFL.
He also shared his views as he has watched the Washington Redskins as they have dealt with success and failure throughout the season.
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