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Coming through in the clutch

by Spencer Chrisman

Why can't some athletes seem to do it?

What a player can do in clutch situations or what that player can do in big games when the team needs them the most is what can define a player's career and what they will mean in the history of that sport.

I came up with the idea for writing this article after watching Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo just collapse in the Arizona Cardinals game on Dec. 4. It was made more evident for me to write about it after Romo missed a wide open Miles Austin against the New York Giants - a game which it could have changed the outcome of the NFC East champion a week later on Dec. 11.

Over the course of the season, I watched Romo in the second game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers fight through injury of a collapsed lung and broken ribs command a drive to beat them in the fourth quarter. Then I saw a Romo who blew games missing receivers and throwing interceptions that would cost his team a win.

There are playmakers or clutch players whom you can count on to make plays down the stretch for the team when they need them the most, and then there are players who can't make those certain plays to win the game in clutch time situations.

I don't really know what it is with a player when the game is on the line and the team needs a huge play from them. The player seems to turn off a switch, goes into hiding and is very passive about what they did during the rest of the game. It seems they are too worried about making the big mistake that could cost them the game and then end up making that mistake anyway.

That certain player just might not perform well in critical situations and they lack that "killer instinct" or that drive or will to want to put the opposing team away. We as fans are expecting these big- time superstars to come up big because that’s what they are required to do, and they get paid mega dollars to do so.

We are accustomed to seeing this in players like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Joe Montana to name a few. They have that "killer instinct" – the desire to be that clutch player and come up big for their teams when they need them the most.

Recently I have noticed a trend in players who just don't have that certain hunger or drive when the game is on the line. They don't perform well in the spotlight. Take, for instance, my favorite basketball player LeBron James whom I love. I love what he does on the court and what he is capable of doing night-in and night-out. But in last season’s playoffs, when the team needed him the most, James basically went away. He was passive and not aggressive like we are used to seeing. Against the Dallas Mavericks, we saw one type of James and then later another.

I also believe that this "killer instinct" can come and go for a player. I don't know why it does or why it doesn't happen for a player all the time. Is it just an off night or are they scared to make something happen and afraid of failing?

I'll explain this by giving a few examples. One is what we witnessed last Sunday in the Super Bowl in Tom Brady. Brady missed a wide-open Wes Welker that could have changed the outcome of the game and could have almost guaranteed a win for the Patriots. Welker was wide-open and Brady just missed him with a bad throw that turned Welker around. For him to make that catch, it would have taken some luck. It was athletic enough just for him to even get a hand on the ball much less try and haul the ball in.

We have seen Brady numerous times make that throw, and we know as fans that Welker is a very reliable and constant catcher for the Patriots. Of the four out of five seasons that Welker has been with the Patriots, he has caught well over 100 footballs from Brady, and we know that he is very reliable and one of Brady’s favorite targets. It is wrong for fans and others to start comparing Welker to former Red Sox player Bill Buckner for his missed reception off what was a bad throw from Brady. We have seen Brady come through in clutch situations to win big games. He has three Super Bowl titles and is arguably one of the best of his position.

In the case of LeBron James, who in the most recent 2011 playoffs against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, had that "killer instinct" - that certain look in his eye that you just knew it was time for him to dominate like everyone knew he would and could do.

James, in the series against the Celtics, in the four games that the Miami Heat won, scored over 20 points and went over the 30-point mark three times. In the one game the Heat lost, James scored only 15. In Game Five of the series to clinch, James answered his critics by scoring 33 points and going 11-for-20 from the field and hitting 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls, James once again answered his critics on whether the team could count on him down the stretch by scoring 28 points in the series clinching fifth game. However, James might best be remembered by nailing a 3-pointer to pull the Heat within five and later hitting another 3 with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game and later blocking a potential game winning 3-pointer from MVP Derrick Rose.

But then we saw the bad side of James. He got to the Finals against the Mavericks and lost whatever drive or "killer instinct" he had from the previous series. Maybe it was fatigue that got to him or the fact that it was the major spotlight, but whatever the reason, James just didn't have it. He went into the passive, non-aggressive player we were so used to seeing. Most notably in the fourth quarter where James was needed the most, he just went MIA as he missed passes, uncontested shots and looked like a lost dog.

We have seen it in baseball as well in the case of former Texas Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson. In the regular season, Wilson was dominant and the ace of the Rangers staff. He went 16-7 in 2011, posted a 2.94 ERA and struck out 206 batters. In 2010 Wilson posted a 15-8 record with a 3.35 ERA and struck out 170 batters. But when the playoffs came around, Wilson wasn't the effective pitcher he was during the regular season, Wilson, in his two seasons with the Rangers in the playoffs, went 1-5 with a 4.82 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 29 walks and 10 home runs allowed.

Whatever the reason, certain players just lose it in the playoffs or in clutch situations when they have it one minute and then the next they don't. I just believe that certain players are regular season players and perform great and put up amazing numbers, but when it comes to crunch time, they just lose whatever it is that drives them. I think that players can later find it and be the big-time player like former quarterback John Elway who never could win the big game and would lose his first three Super Bowl appearances. But, Elway would later win two Super Bowls at the end of his career.

Players’ careers and their marks in history are measured by championships and what they can do in clutch situations.

Players like Brady, Jordan, Bryant, Montana, and Mariano Rivera are just some of the players that come to my mind when you need a game-winning drive, that game-winning basket or someone to come in and close out a game.

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