The Mental Challenge of His Comeback

Alex Smith (@AlexSmith_11) is a former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, and a 16-year NFL veteran quarterback. Known as one of the game's elite operational minds, Smith threw for over 35,000 career passing yards and earned three Pro Bowl selections while leading the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Washington Football Team. He is also the recipient of the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. After suffering a catastrophic, life-threatening leg injury in 2018 that required 17 surgeries, Alex defied all medical odds to not only walk again, but return to professional football. Off the field, his masterclass in leadership directly shaped the careers of talents like Patrick Mahomes, Colin Kapernick and Travis Kelce. Today he is an ESPN football analyst and has dedicated his post-playing career to teaching others how to conquer anxiety, reframe self-doubt, and find strength in their scars. In this episode, he shares his hard-won frameworks on resilience, thriving under immense pressure, and mastering the ultimate comeback mindset.

Connect with Alex: @AlexSmith_11

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We are constantly asked "where have all the leaders gone?" Now more than ever, it is up to schools, clubs and coaches to develop our leaders, and this new book is a perfect guide to train and develop them. It is filled with stories of champion team captains on the professional and college level, Hall of Fame coaches, and more, and is a masterclass on leadership. Your athletes will learn from leaders such as Carles Puyol, Abby Wambach, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Richie McCaw, Carla Overbeck and Simone Biles. It will help your athletes understand the qualities needed to lead, the responsibilities they must accept, and the most common challenges they will face. The chapters are short and sweet and have discussion questions so that your leaders can work through them together and set your team up for great success. The book also comes with a FREE downloadable 10-session curriculum so you can guide your team or the leaders in your school or club through the entire book.

FOR ORDERS OF 10 OR MORE, WE OFFER A $5 PER BOOK DISCOUNT. EMAIL [email protected] to place your order.

BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John present to your school, club or coaching event, either in person or virtually? Looking for leadership training for your student athletes, a coach development workshop or parent education? We are still booking Fall 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call [email protected]

PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MORE! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you? We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next?

Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon

Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon

Please email [email protected] if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone.

This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports. Sprocket Sports is a software platform for youth sports clubs. Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites, communication tools and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams.

Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs. So if you've been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG.

Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes.

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