My point was the "Never Was" ex NFL Busts that expound the virtues of "cutting edge training" when they themselves couldn't be "trained".

As I stated, Jordan Palmer either didn't listen to his trainers or couldn't be trained to be a successful NFL QB.

I've seen trained seals on balance beam catch a ball and hold it on their nose. Didn't make them great running backs!

As I pointed out Palmer himself mentioned that he didn't have the natural talent of many of these players receiving this training. The fact is that the vast majority of great coaches were not very successful in their own sports. "Never was" ex busts can still teach others even though they didn't have the individual talent to excel themselves. They can also know what it takes to be great given the prerequisite God-given talent. I think you can agree that those seals don't have the God-given talent to play runningback in the NFL, right?

Hi,

There is no such thing as "natural talent." Unfortunately, that is a myth propagated by a lot of people and it is frustrating because it makes people think they are unable to achieve what someone else did.

Perhaps "natural talent" is a misnomer. Some people are, however more gifted athletically. You do agree that there are different muscle types, right? Fast twitch and slow twitch. My older son swam competitively in Division I at UNO. He has slow twitch muscle fibers and any amount of training would not have made him successfully competitive at sprinting. However, he excelled at distance. Someone 5'2" would never be able to play center successfully in the NBA, for example. Wouldn't you say that there are limits physiologically?

You saying 'natural talent doesn't exist is where you lost me. I have played sports for most of my life and high levels and there are people that are genetically predisposed to achieve a certain level of proficiency at something without coaching or training. Eye hand coordination is not something everyone is born with equally.

There are genetic advantages which do not mean that someone cant reach an equal level of efficiency. Some people have to work to get to a level that others walk on the field with naturally.


Leadership is one of those things that is nearly impossible to teach or train into someone.

Agreed with everything you said. Some people are natural born leaders, that everyone listens to the minute they are around.

And some people just have natural talent that can catapult them to another level, if they have the right work ethic.

My main example, I played UK NFL for around 9 years, amateur - Div 1/2 so not high level but still competitive. I had some pretty good athletic background growing up playing a ton of sports which helped me. Dropping passes as a WR annoyed me and if I ever did in training or a game, I couldn't let it go, I would spend the next week obsessing about it and trying to make sure it didn't happen again.

Felt pretty good, scored 14 TD's in my rookie year.

My 2nd year, this guy showed up that did not have a clue about the NFL rules, but was a natural athlete from playing Rugby growing up, at the time he joined, it was obvious he could be a gifted player. He had speed, he could Form Tackle which was impressive and people listened when he was around.

That same guy now has represented GB American Football team for the past 5 years and is now in Switzerland on a paid semi pro contract and all it really took was him learning the rules of football to set him apart.

Agreed with everything you said. Some people are natural born leaders, that everyone listens to the minute they are around.

And some people just have natural talent that can catapult them to another level, if they have the right work ethic.

My main example, I played UK NFL for around 9 years, amateur - Div 1/2 so not high level but still competitive. I had some pretty good athletic background growing up playing a ton of sports which helped me. Dropping passes as a WR annoyed me and if I ever did in training or a game, I couldn't let it go, I would spend the next week obsessing about it and trying to make sure it didn't happen again.

Felt pretty good, scored 14 TD's in my rookie year.

My 2nd year, this guy showed up that did not have a clue about the NFL rules, but was a natural athlete from playing Rugby growing up, at the time he joined, it was obvious he could be a gifted player. He had speed, he could Form Tackle which was impressive and people listened when he was around.

That same guy now has represented GB American Football team for the past 5 years and is now in Switzerland on a paid semi pro contract and all it really took was him learning the rules of football to set him apart.

You saying 'natural talent doesn't exist is where you lost me. I have played sports for most of my life and high levels and there are people that are genetically predisposed to achieve a certain level of proficiency at something without coaching or training. Eye hand coordination is not something everyone is born with equally.

There are genetic advantages which do not mean that someone cant reach an equal level of efficiency. Some people have to work to get to a level that others walk on the field with naturally.


Leadership is one of those things that is nearly impossible to teach or train into someone.