Sounds like what lots of folks on talk radio say.
The problem is that Smith led the NFL in game-winning drives in his rookie season, with those game-winning drives accounting for five of his team's eight wins that season. So much for "there is very little that can prepare a QB for NFL big-time pressure situations," huh? And so much for the idea that he needs a sports psychologist or "EXPERIENCE... to develop his clutch-ness."
There's a much simpler explanation. Maybe "clutchness" as a characteristic of the player doesn't exist. People want to take the results of a game in a team sport and use it to make judgements about the character of a single player on one of the teams. What if that were just hot air and nonsense?
Yes, of course there are "clutch" situations, but there is no sign in any study ever done that there exists any kind of measurable "clutchness" that is any more predictive of how a given player will do in such a situation than that player's overall performance in "clutch" and "non-clutch" situations. In fact, overall performance is a better predictor of how a player will do in the next "clutch" situation than any measure of how he's done previously in such situations.
I think it would be "challenging" to set up a "scientific study" to evaluate "clutchness" and perhaps pointless. I clearly labeled the sports psychologist example as a "hypothetical", not sure why you're picking on that. The Hawks do have those types of people on staff and Carroll is a believer.
Gervais joined Colin Cowherd on The Herd on Monday and it's definitely worth a listen. He talks Jordan Spieth, Pete Carroll, and more.
www.fieldgulls.com
These days in the NFL, every team has a sports psychologist who looks out for the players' mental health. Meet Mike Gervais, the sports psychologist for the Seattle Seahawks. Learn how he helps elevate players like Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett by teaching them techniques to improve their...
www.gq.com
Geno led the NFL in GW drives his rookie season? Great, the Jets had a defense that year! So (making this up) Geno's 2nd quarter field goal drive held up as the game winner when the Jets won, 10-7? So we agree that upgrades on the Hawks defense would help Geno be much more "clutch".
You use the word "character", I prefer to think of "clutchness" in terms of skills, mental mindset, opponent research, coaching guidance, situational awareness, supporting cast (in team sports) and physical talent, deployed in high-stakes contested situations, within a given environment/setting, to obtain a successful result. Yeah, that's a lot of stuff. Most of those variables can be improved with effort. The strength of opponent is of course a factor as well. Some ultra-clutch plays are one-off "miracle" things, that are near-impossible to replicate. David Tyree's helmet catch, the Minneapolis Miracle walk-off TD by the Vikes, the 2014 NFCCG onside kick recovery, and even this Disc Golf championship-winning throw.
Some players consistently display the "clutch gene"; Patrick Mahomes in SB55, Justin Jefferson, and Cooper Kupp come to mind; this year I'm also seeing it in Jets DB Sauce Gardner. Prime Richard Sherman was definitely "clutch". (Doug Baldwin, Cliff Avril, Lynch, and many other Hawk greats also) Matthew Stafford was "clutch" for the Rams last year, but this year, not so much. Mahomes wasn't very "clutch" in SB55, with no O-Line protection. I think we agree that the "clutch gene" thing is nonsense, and that it's really a collection of variables that come together (or don't) at crunch time. Players playing through injuries can often be far less "clutch" than usual, for obvious reasons.
I do think that Geno mentally fell apart the last few minutes of the game. Wouldn't you, if you had Maxx Crosby barreling down on you and had no time to process the field and unleash the throw? The off-target throw to DK, short-arming a couple throws to Tyler? I trust in Pete, Shane, and Geno to identify adjustments and make improvements. I'm not sure I trust in Clint Hurtt to make the adjustments on D to help Geno's clutchness, but we can always hope.