“I admire you in the way you’ve handled yourself on and off the field.   Best of luck in your post-NFL career”

These are on some of the handwritten notes that Peyton Manning sends other NFL players on their retirement …. players that have NOT played with him, they have played AGAINST him.  He has sent more than a dozen of these letters.  He handwrites every single one of them … he believes it says “it’s from my heart”.

He believes it shows respect among peers. It shows he appreciates them for their character, not simply their stats.  They played the right way, played when they were hurt, they put it all on the line.  He wants these retirees to know there is another player out there that appreciates them.

What do the recipients of these letters say? They are flattered and “honored that Peyton took the time to write little old me” says Troy Brown of the New England Patriots.   Steve McNair QB of the Oilers/Titans says it “shows the true character of the individual and high standards of being one of the top quarterback.”

Taking a few minutes and doing something out of the ordinary, something that you know will lift someone else’s spirits, shows that you are cognizant of some of the other person’s abilities and motivations.

In this era of modern technology, where emails and tweets run rampant, Peyton shows the power of the handwritten word.

With the basketball season not yet beginning, and football season just getting underway, these sports provide us with two separate team perspectives.

In football teams, there really is no ’superstar’.  I know, I know, a team can’t make it to the Super Bowl unless they have an excellent quarterback.  What type of team would you have if you had a stellar quarterback, and mediocre tight ends, running backs and wide receivers?  I don’t think you’d see that team in the Big Game.

In basketball, you can indeed have star players.  Just think of Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabar or Shaquille O’Neal.  These players can be ‘the team’ in themselves.  Do you know any other players on the same teams as these three?  Possibly not.  Probably not.

The quarterback in football calls the plays and everyone knows what and when they are supposed to do.  Think of the huddle.  Everyone on the football team needs to be aware of the plays. Everyone has to be in synchronization.  Everyone has to understand.  There must be no mis-understandings, no missed plays.

Not so with the basketball team.

Communication … the key to high performing teams.

It isn’t what you said, it’s what they think they heard.

He had a natural way with words ….. brought to our attention the confusion of the English Language. Or course his most famous dialog was The 7 Dirty Words, which went all the way to the Supreme Court. Somehow, George Carlin made them sound funny, not nearly the nasty words they are.

My favorite is the difference between baseball and football:

Football is concerned with downs – what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups – who’s up?

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

In his introduction on The Actor’s Studio, in the usually mundane “You were born in ..”, George Carlin submitted “George Carlin was conceived in August 1936 at Curley’s Hotel in Rockaway Beach, New York…”

I encourage you to watch on Bravo, or rent the interview. It is pure George Carlin!