#NFLVideos: How National Champion J.J. McCarthy Prepared for the NFL Draft

How National Champion J.J. McCarthy Prepared for the NFL Draft

my typical meditation is different from
the one I do before a game I think it’s
fair to say he is one of the more
intriguing quarterbacks in this draft
hit as he throws doesn’t matter
touchdown Michigan it is transend Dental
meditation so I repeat a mantra in my
head over and over again and then soon
my mind’s just drifting down into the
depths of my being deep throw and it is
caught the one before the game that’s a
little bit different with the
frequencies that I put on my headphones
and try to tune my physiology to the
right energy that I want to match fires
across his body the touchdown when I
stay disciplined with it I really
started seeing the benefits and how your
mental health gets connected with your
play on the field might sound a little
woo woo but it works for me turns the
corner throws caught touchdown
[Applause]
Wolverine play fake McCarthy
right down the middle of the field
perfect throw these last few months have
definitely been the craziest of my life
hail hail Michigan they are the
champions of college football it was a
weird feeling a feeling I didn’t expect
when that clock hit zero once you reach
the top of the mountain you realize you
have to go back down and start a new one
let’s go let’s go leading up to that
final game of this past season I still
didn’t know what I was going to do with
the decision having to be made if you’re
going to declare or Not by by the 15th
of January you have this six- day window
where you have to make one of the
biggest decisions of your life it was
stressful a different path that I
started walking on and it made me
uncomfortable and that’s how I knew I
was in the right place outside of before
I think it’s well documented I think
he’s the best quarterback in the draft
it’s a huge honor to hear that from
coach arbaugh he’s been around a lot of
quarterbacks he’s been around a lot of
successful football teams just can’t
wait to prove him right he’s got an
extra gear you know especially when he
when he’s challenged declaring for the
draft once you make that step there’s a
whole other obstacle that you got to get
past which is the combine and preparing
for
that I wanted to partner with a company
like Sleep Number just because of their
mission everything that they’re doing
aligns with what I want to accomplish
sleep and rest and Recovery as athletes
we exert ourselves so much if you don’t
have that recovery time then you can
only go so far and you’re going to burn
out I’m going to perform at my best my
sleep has at my best a lot of guys
aren’t going to be throwing that we
thought would be JJ McCarthy’s like give
me the rock let me prove it and I’ll
tell you what he measured in did his
size he’s heavier than what people
expected he’s taller than what people
expected JJ McCarthy is having an
amazing week let’s see him finish the
job my goal is going into the combine
was to just be myself and enjoy the
process turn it loose he’s a pure
thrower he’s very fluid that’s perfect
that was 60 yards in the air by the way
John Beck and I started working together
my freshman year at College every single
time I came away with something that was
just drastically improving my game like
such profound wisdom and all the
knowledge he has in the biomechanical
world of throwing football this past
combine experience he was just so
worried about executing the combine cuz
that was what was in front of us he’s
not worried about the pros or being on a
team are going over playbooks let’s
focus on this combine stuff let’s do
interview prep and let’s you know wrap
this up so there’s no stone unturn he
went out there competed and threw the
ball very very well McCarthy had an
outstanding day out here
[Music]
oh yeah that’s the boys right there oh
yeah no doubt couple golden
retrievers so I picked up this drill
from Drew Brees you’re the hunter or
you’re the hunted we came here to hunt
he just talks about the pocket it’s such
a confined space with chaos all over the
place so you’re throwing off balance a
lot of the
[Applause]
time just getting your mind and body
familiar with that feeling and just
repping it repping it repping it so when
it show up in a game or practice you’ve
already completed that rep many times
nice throw good quarterback right there
buddy today was more of a refinement
practice just being able to get out
there with my guys and still have that
feel still work off balance movement so
you don’t put yourself in situations
where you haven’t dealt with that in a
while I’m a huge believer if you don’t
use it you’re going to lose
it cold water I love it well there’s
cold showers every morning morning or
hopping in the cold tub or hopping in
the frozen lake your mind telling you
like you don’t want to do this like
don’t do it and then you get in there
and it feels like your body’s screaming
but you just keep doing it sit right
there feels great embrace the pain
embrace the cold you do something that
sucks no pain no gain like that’s how it
goes so yeah path of most resistance it
makes a huge difference the quality of
sleep you get I feel like when I get 8
to 10 hours I’m sharp the next day ready
to dictate the day instead of react to
each obstacle that comes my way if
you’re trying to be better than you were
yesterday it comes with getting that
great night of sleep Michigan
quarterback JJ McCarthy seems like he’s
always smiling and before every game he
draws a smiley face on his hand it’s
something McCarthy’s done since high
school it comes from this profound
advice that I got from a seven-year-old
first loss didn’t have the best game was
throwing two interceptions it was our
arrival it was at home I was just
frustrated as you can imagine and after
the game I’m signing autographs and I’m
signing her newspaper and she’s just
grilling me with questions like why are
you so mad out there like it’s it’s a
game what do you mean and I was just you
know telling her that you know I was
playing bad we were losing all this just
nonsense to her and she goes you need to
you need to be happy more you need to
smile more and then she drew the smiley
face on my hand after I gave her a pen
back and then I was like makes sense
there’s literally studies about smile
affecting your performance Kobe Bryant
would sit there on the bench like this
holding back his smile when he get down
because it tricks your brain into you
know producing more serotonin which then
leads to better performance and I’ve
wore it on my hand the rest of the year
we went undefeated his mental game is so
important to how he handles himself it
allows him to lock in gives him a nice
reprieve a way to compartmentalize
emotions so he can go out there and
succeed on every single
snap oh he hasn’t missed a throw
yet he’s 63 of 63 right now he’s just
showing off now he’s showing off now
he’s just showing off all 32 teams
represented at the University of
Michigan pro day more than 150 NFL
talent evaluators in all pro day was
awesome because of the ability to just
do it one more time and everybody knew
that so everybody was giv their all and
just seeing 18 guys go out there and
compete in front of 150 plus NFL staff
members like that’s unheard of and to be
able to be a part of that I’m just
forever grateful what do you think
you’re going to give a team that ends up
drafting you uh just somebody who you
know busts his butt every day has a
dying passion for the game of football
loves his teammates loves his coaches
and does anything and everything to win
football games it’s been a surreal
experience and I’ve enjoyed every single
second of it because I realize you only
get it once the thing I’m most excited
about is stepping out of the pond and
jumping into the ocean being around the
best of the best you are who you
surround yourself with stress is that
you know stress is going to be coming
from just preparing for the next
interview the next practice being able
to make sure I don’t bounce myself off
Baseline too much and keep a centered
approach to everything that’s something
that every athlete should have and every
person should have because you’re going
to be throwing a new situation every
single day and if you’re coming at those
situations from a centered stance and
open-minded and being able to just be
present with what’s going on right in
front of you instead of thinking about
what happened yesterday what’s going to
happen that’s when you’re going to be
performing your most optimal way
[Music]

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