Sports
Looking to calm your nerves? Here are 4 tips from Super Bowl champions
While running out onto the field for the first time before Super Bowl LIV’s kickoff in 2020, Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt remembers looking up and seeing a piece of trivia on the video board: If the Chiefs win today, Dustin joins his dad, Craig, and brother, Britton, as a Super Bowl champion.
It immediately triggered a bout of overthinking and anxiety.
“Oh crap,” Colquitt thought.
To calm his nerves, he used a simple remedy: a series of breathing exercises on the sideline.
People everywhere deal with similar surges of pressure or nervousness. The professional football players who have made it to the Super Bowl are experiencing those same feelings, but on a public stage, elevated for tens of millions to see. The extremeness of it all forces them to figure out how to conquer those emotions in ways we can also apply ahead of a big job interview, a public speaking engagement or any pressure moment in our lives.
Here are four tips on how to quiet your mind from Super Bowl champions.
Find a helpful distraction
In the middle of Super XLIX in 2015, Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin felt some anxiety creeping in. It was weird to him, after entering the game with what he called an “overwhelming sense of confidence.” But he knew where the anxiety was coming from.
“This may sound silly, but as a receiver, the confidence of being able to catch the ball sometimes leaves you,” he said.
It’s why he had practiced a few techniques ahead of time, one of which he started to do at that moment.
He closed his eyes and stuck his hands out in front of him. Then, using his thumb, he touched each one of his fingertips, one by one, and repeatedly tapped his fingers.
“What it was doing was re-grounding me in that moment,” Baldwin explained. “Kind of helping me get in tune with my body. The simple touching of your fingertips, that sends electro signals throughout your body.”
It also serves as a distraction, something Baldwin knew he needed in pressure-packed moments. Only an hour or two earlier, he preoccupied himself on his phone with his favorite strategy game at the time, “Galaxy On Fire: Alliances.”
“I could distract my mind and go to something that was a little bit more controllable and lighthearted,” he said.
Other Super Bowl champions, like Colquitt, had similar approaches with music. Colquitt said while some of his teammates got ready for big games with loud hype music, he preferred the calmness of Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett. The consistency of his music selections also helped ease his mind.
“I knew that if I listened to my music, it felt like just another game, just another opponent,” he said.
Breath work can quickly recalibrate you
While preparing to play in the Super Bowl, Colquitt took a moment for himself, like he did before every game, to simply focus on his breathing. With indie rock music still humming in his ears, he started with the number 13.
For 13 seconds, he held his breath, then released his breath slowly for another 13 seconds. Counting down by increments of three, he held his breath for 10 seconds and released it for another 10 seconds. Until he got down to three.
“It would start kind of slowing my heart rate down,” Colquitt said. “In between that and the music, it kept me at a calm or a peace. Just kind of took the nerves out of everything.”
Similarly, before former Steelers guard Willie Colon played in Super Bowl XLIII, he put on his uniform, listened to the song “Closer” by Goapele on repeat and began to count.
“I would count to 10 and then from 10 go all the way to one and then go all the way back to 10,” he said. “Just counting and focusing on my breathing really calmed my nerves. That was something that always helped me.”
For Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan, breath work was not only helpful before pressure moments, but during them, too.
Ryan was in his second year in the NFL when he made his first Super Bowl in 2015, and even though the Patriots won, he wasn’t pleased with his mentality.
“I found myself playing it safe,” he said. “I didn’t want to be the reason we lost. I just wasn’t taking a risk because I knew what was at stake. I told myself I was never going to play a Super Bowl like that again.”
When he made the Super Bowl with the Patriots a second time, two years later, he resolved to not be afraid of the moment and play fearlessly.
By his third Super Bowl in the final year of his career, this time with the San Francisco 49ers in 2024, he said he was in the “most zen state he ever played a game.”
In large part that was because of breathing techniques he had learned to center himself. Through breath work, he mastered how to track his heart rate and drop it. On the bench during the game, and even on the field before plays, he used the technique to get into a relaxed state.
“Just let it go,” he said. “Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. I really just wanted to be in the moment, and I think the breath work really kept me in the moment.”
Both Ryan and Colon still use breath work to calm their minds before big meetings or broadcasting games.
Visualization can be powerful
Every night before a game, Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright would take 10 minutes alone. No phone, no TV, just total silence.
For those 10 minutes he would play out the upcoming game in his mind.
“I’d talk to myself,” he said. “I’d say: ‘You’re going to make every tackle. This is what’s coming your way.’ Just bringing that energy to me, bringing that positive success to me. That was a freaking game-changer. I swear by that.”
Another Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, the MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, had a slightly different twist. While he prepared during the week for perfection, he also reminded himself before the game that imperfections are part of it and that was OK.
“You knew you were going to make a mistake; it’s not going to be perfect,” he said. “Don’t set the expectation that it’s going to go perfect. You’ll make a mistake, knock it out and just keep going.”
Embrace the big moment
Sometimes the immensity of an opportunity can overwhelm. Both Smith and Baldwin leaned into it.
Smith continuously reminded himself that the hype of the Super Bowl shouldn’t freak him out; it should excite him. He was calmer in that game than any other game he ever played in, he said.
“There was no imposter syndrome because we had proven that we deserved to be there,” Smith said. “Typically if you have a big day, it’s often because you earned that opportunity to be there. That helped me to calm down and be present.”
“Let the moment be the moment,” Baldwin said. “Enjoy the moment and be present with the moment, regardless of what comes in that moment. It’s a very powerful antidote to anxiety and doubt.”
Bruce Arians, who won a Super Bowl in 2021 as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, just wanted to be himself. So he did what he always did the night before a game: a couple of drinks and a good night’s sleep. After all, he figured that had been good enough to get him to the Super Bowl.
“I never tried to change,” Arians said. “I tried to stay the same. Just keep the routine the same so there’s no more extra hype.”
(Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
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The New England Patriots defended home turf in the Wild Card Round, dominating the Los Angeles Chargers in a 16-3 victory to move on in the NFL Playoffs.
New England, winning its first playoff game since their 2018 Super Bowl-winning campaign, will await the victor of the No. 4 Houston Texans and No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card game on Monday night to see who they face in the Divisional Round next week.
This game saw its first touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that was because of how suffocating both defenses were in this contest. But it was clear the Patriots had every answer for Justin Herbert and the Chargers’ offense.
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Drake Maye of the New England Patriots celebrates after a touchdown in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Mike Vrabel’s squad shouldn’t have given up only three points, especially after Drake Maye was picked off on the Patriots’ second drive at his own 10-yard line. However, the Patriots’ defense was relentless all night, and the Chargers couldn’t adjust.
They stopped the Chargers on four plays to turn them over on downs, and ultimately got on the board first thanks to a 93-yard drive that resulted in a field goal.
49ERS ELMINATE DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION EAGLES FROM PLAYOFFS
Los Angeles was knocking at the door again with a third-and-2 from New England’s three-yard line, but Kimani Vidal was stuffed. Cameron Dicker added a field goal to tie the game, and only another Patriots field goal was added to the score before halftime, a 6-3 lead for New England.
While the Chargers couldn’t get anything going on offense, their defense kept them in this game, at least for the first three quarters. Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh while in Chargers territory to keep it a three-point game in the third quarter.
But after another failed drive, a third Patriots field goal split the uprights to make it 9-3.
Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots talks to teammates in a huddle prior to an AFC wild card playoff football game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 11, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
The dagger for the Patriots came after yet another Chargers punt, when Maye placed his pass perfectly for tight end Hunter Henry, the ex-Chargers star, for a 28-yard touchdown. The first six-pointer for either team seemingly ended all hopes for Los Angeles.
On the ensuing drive, Herbert was crushed by K’Lavon Chaisson, resulting in a fumble recovered by Christian Elliss, as the Gillette Stadium crowd went ballistic.
The Chargers tried to get some playoff heroics going, as they dinked and dunked their way down the field into Patriots territory. But on fourth-and-9 from New England’s 34-yard line, Milton Williams ended all hope when he delivered the Patriots’ sixth sack on Herbert to turn them over on downs again.
In the box score, Maye went 17-of-29 through the air for 268 yards, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson being his top receiver with 75 yards on three catches. Kayshon Boutte also added 66 yards on four grabs, while Henry finished with 64 yards.
Drake Maye of the New England Patriots looks to pass prior to an NFL wild card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 11, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
And Maye was also the Patriots’ leading rusher with 67 yards on the ground on nine carries, as he continuously picked his spots to gash the Chargers’ defense.
For Los Angeles, Herbert’s playoff woes continue, as he’s now 0-3 after this performance. He had just 159 yards passing and 57 yards rushing.
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The MVP chants for the second-year quarterback of the New England Patriots rang throughout Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were haunted by their own echoes.
Another playoff game. Another one-and-done exit.
The gutty season of quarterback Justin Herbert again ended with a whimper, a 16-3 loss on a night when the Chargers defense provided ample opportunities.
“We have to do better than three points,” Herbert said. “As an offense, that’s not good enough. The quarterback play wasn’t good enough, and we let the defense down today.”
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings in the fourth quarter Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Three years ago was the nuclear meltdown at Jacksonville, when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to lose, 31-30.
Last year, the first under coach Jim Harbaugh, Herbert was picked off four times at Houston after making it through the regular season with just three interceptions.
Now, the Chargers have all offseason to ponder the fiasco at Foxborough, when they generated one field goal, 207 yards and converted one of 10 third downs.
The cover-your-eyes postseason scorecard under Harbaugh: Two games, 15 points on three field goals, one touchdown and a failed conversion.
Asked after the New England loss if the impending offseason changes could include changing out offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Harbaugh was notably noncommittal.
“Right now I don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to look at that.”
The juxtaposition between the Chargers and Patriots is stark. The Chargers are precisely where they were a year ago, groping for answers about how to win a postseason game.
The Patriots won just four games last season but bumped that to 14 this year — one of three teams in NFL history to improve by at least 10 games in 12 months — and now advance to play host to Monday night’s winner between Houston and Pittsburgh.
As good as Herbert was all season — particularly playing behind a patchwork offensive line and with a broken left hand — he seemed lost in space Sunday, unable to connect with his receivers or establish anything close to an offensive rhythm.
Former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry catches a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the Patriots. It was the game’s only touchdown.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He threw for 120 yards and oversaw an offense whose possessions ended thusly: punt, turnover on downs, field goal, punt, end of half, punt, punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs.
It’s not as if the Patriots were much better. The Chargers largely shut them down on offense, but New England was able to cobble together three field goals and a touchdown by tight end Hunter Henry, who, in a tormenting twist, began his career with the Chargers.
But Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was more calm and in command than Herbert despite two fumbles (one lost) and an interception on a pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage.
“Credit to Drake Maye,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Every time we got to him, he got back up. Every time his team needed a play today, he used his legs.”
In fact, the quarterbacks were the leading rushers, with Maye running for 66 yards and Herbert 57. The Patriots got 53 more from Rhamondre Stevenson, whereas the Chargers couldn’t mount anything of a true running game.
When teams win, they spend the offseason trying to keep their rosters together. When they lose, it’s back to the drawing board. The Chargers are in the latter category.
In a locker room so quiet you could hear a dream drop, linebacker Daiyan Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is slow to get up after being sacked in the fourth quarter against the Patriots on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“There was a lot of confidence going into this game,” Henley said. “I think the feeling and vibe you’re getting in this locker room right now is that it’s over and that this team is going to change. Everybody is aware that our defense is going to surely change.
“When you have a core group of guys like this, everybody holds a lot of pride in what we do. So to know that we lost and the season is over and this locker room is going to change — and upstairs may change — it hurts more.”
Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game, especially for the way they fought all season despite the various hurdles in their path.
“It sucks because this is how the season ends, so when you talk about processing a loss like this, the process lasts longer,” Henley said.
“You go out on a loss, I’ll be thinking about it until I can go out and get my next win.”
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The Green Bay Packers’ playoff exit on Saturday immediately put added focus on what the organization will do with head coach Matt LaFleur.
The NFL coaching cycle has been the wildest in recent memory, with veteran coaches like John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll being shown the door. Packers fans seemingly put LaFleur on the hot seat following their crushing defeat to the Chicago Bears.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reacts during the wild-card playoff game against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Sunday that the Packers will have a major decision to make.
“The Green Bay Packers and their new president, Ed Policy, have a significant decision to make here in the coming days – and that is whether to extend Matt LaFleur’s contract. He’s currently got one year remaining, or to move on from him,” Schefter said. “If they moved on from him, he would automatically go near the top of coaches available and shakeup this current head-coaching cycle yet again.”
Schefter added that Harbaugh could be one of the names that would interest the Packers’ organization.
BEARS’ BEN JOHNSON GIVES FIERY MESSAGE TO TEAM AFTER PLAYOFF WIN: ‘F— THE PACKERS!’
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur talks after the playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
“Notice how we said this belongs to the Packers’ president, Ed Policy. Well, the Packers’ former president from the back in the day was a man by the name of Bob Harlan,” Schefter explained. “Bob Harlan’s son, Brian Harlan, represents John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh is a Midwestern guy, who has a home in the Upper Peninsula, and a lot of people around the league have been wondering if the Packers decide to go in a different direction, if all of a sudden the Green Bay Packers might fall to the top of John Harbaugh’s list as the top available choice for him.
“This has been a wild, crazy coaching cycle, and we may be just scratching the surface.”
Green Bay Packers’ Matthew Golden celebrates his touchdown against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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Green Bay finished 9-7-1 this season. LaFleur is 76-40-1 as the Packers’ head coach with a 3-6 record in the playoffs.
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