If you’re in first place, you know you’re doing something right. We’re happy about it, but we’re not content at all because we still have the whole second half to play.
I’ve been looking back at the things we could have done differently in our two losses. The good thing is, it’s not so much what the other team did, but mistakes we made. And that is something we can control going forward.
I know there are some things I can do to make myself better, and I’m pretty sure everybody else feels the same way.
This is a team that can get to the Super Bowl. I know that. People haven’t talked much about us this season until we beat Arizona last week to go to 6-2, but I feel we’ve played with some of the best teams in the league already.
This team definitely has the chemistry, and that’s the most important thing. We have a genuine love for one another. We go out and play hard and believe we can beat anybody if we play as a team.
That’s the No. 1 thing.
A big part of our success has been the play of Steve Smith. He had his work cut out for him, winning back the trust and respect of the players, and we did a great job staying together as a team and staying the course. The guys did a great job of taking him back in, and that started with the way Ken Lucas took him back, like the true man that he is, and forgave him.
It’s the really tough times that define you as a team, as a family. That’s when you know what you’re made of, and if we can get through that, we can get through anything.
Steve is truly a special guy, and not just as a football player. He has so much confidence in everything he does. He truly believes that no one can stop him, and his confidence never sways. That’s what it’s all about.
As for me, I rate my performances by the mistakes I make but also by the number of tackles I get. I don’t like to think of myself as a freakish athlete, though some people do. I’m an effort guy, I go out there a give the maximum effort every time, scratching and clawing to get to the ballcarrier. That’s what it comes down to for linebackers.
I’m hoping to get to the Pro Bowl this year. That would be a true measure of consistency. Last year I wasn’t even an alternate, and I admit I was disappointed. How many times in your career are you going to make 106 solo tackles? The Pro Bowl is an annual event, it shouldn’t reward what you did three years ago. I looked at the linebackers who went and I couldn’t believe that Patrick Willis was just an alternate. He led the league in tackles!
Though making the Pro Bowl would mean a lot to my career, when you win games, that’s the greatest reward, especially if you can win a Super Bowl. That’s truly my focus; when you win, all that other stuff comes along with it.
Still, it’s something on my mind. Make a lot of tackles, get to the Pro Bowl. That’s a goal and a dream.
Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Jon Beason writes a blog for playerpress.com at www.jonbeason.com.
It’s our week off, and I just landed in Miami. Tomorrow I’ll stop by my alma mater, the University of Miami, to watch practice. If they were playing at home I’d go to the game, but they’re at Virginia so I’ll just stop by.
I’ll probably go to a high school game Friday night, give the team a pep talk. Just make the rounds, see my family, friends, the people that are important to me. Hopefully it won’t go by too fast.
When I go to the games down here I usually watch from the sidelines. I just sit and enjoy. That is how I relax. Football as a profession is tedious, the schedule is tedious, this way I can step back from football in terms of preparation, watching film and practicing. It’s very enjoyable for me to watch the game at the high school level. These kids are playing because they love the game. I remember that so well, being a part of it, competing for a state championship. There’s nothing like it.
This week will be a good time to rest. On the Monday after a game my body feels like a train wreck. And if it doesn’t, I feel like I haven’t done enough. Look, I want to play this game as long as I can, but I’m not one of those guys who says I’m going to play forever. I don’t think I’ll play that long because if you play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, as a linebacker, you just can’t play that long. It’s just a matter of time.
So as bad as I feel on the day after a game, I like it. Because that lets me know that I’ve put in a good day of work.
I feel I’m a very emotional player because I just love the game. I love the camaraderie, and that’s the No. 1 thing. You get tired out there, but you know you’re playing for the man next to you, and he’s playing for you. You’re in it together, in the same fire. That’s the game.
If you’re not emotional about it, I feel like, why play? And I think my teammates see that in me. I want them to say, I want to go to war with that guy.
The great ones love the game.
A lot of people are talking about whether the problem between Steve Smith and Ken Lucas will have a negative affect on the Panthers this season.
I think it has already brought the team closer together.
I have an older brother, and as kids growing up, and even as adults now, there are going to be disagreements and fights. If me and my brother get into a fight, that’s one thing, but no one else better say anything to him or it becomes my problem, also, and I know he feels the same way.
The Panthers are like a family and we’re going to handle this in-house. Like any family, there are going to be scuffles and disagreements, but at the end of the day, you’re still a family. You have that love for each other and I think that’s what you need to succeed as a team, to care about one another. That’s what you need in any sport.
The guys have already come together over this, it’s been business as usual. Steve has been accepted by everyone, he’s practicing and gives and takes high fives just like any other player.
On top of that, guys are stepping up right now that didn’t think they would have to. Steve is always capable of winning a game if you get him the ball, so knowing he’s not going to be there for our first two games, all the guys, myself included, know that without him out there we’re going to have to play that much harder and be that much better.
It’s not a problem for me.
Jon Beason is the starting middle linebacker for the Carolina Panthers. His blog for playerpress.com runs regularly at www.beason52.com.