Examining Grit-like Qualities in National Football League Quarterbacks

In order to excel in the National Football League (NFL) it would seem reasonable to assume an athlete has grit which consists of the constructs of consistency of interest and perseverance of effort. Grit-like qualities such as endurance, urgency and intensity, self-confidence, need for encouragement, and self-criticality may be of particular value for the athlete playing the Quarterback (QB) position. The purpose of the study was to assess the 5 grit-like constructs of endurance, urgency and intensity, self-confidence, need for encouragement, and self-criticality among NFL QBs. The Flippen Profile^TM assessment was administered to 29 NFL QBs and the 5 grit-like constructs were recorded. Each of the 5 grit-like constructs were scored on a scale of 0-100, where high scores were considered desirable for endurance, urgency and intensity, and self-confidence, while lower scores were considered as desirable for need for encouragement, and self-criticality. The scores for each of the 5 grit-like constructs were then partitioned by three categories of QB years played: 1-2 (n=8), 3-7 (n=13), and ≥8 (n=8) years. Four key findings emerged following the analysis: the NFL QBs scored favorably on all of the 5 grit-like constructs independent of years played, QBs with ≥8 years' experience scored the most favorably for endurance and the need for encouragement, QBs with 1-2 years' experience scored the most favorably for self-criticality. These results may provide coaches and athletes aspiring to play QB in the NFL with benchmarks regarding the 5 grit-like constructs that are associated with successful NFL QBs.