Joe Brady felt nothing during one of the biggest moments in Bills history and it’s the killer instinct they need for a Super Bowl run
The debut of Highmark Stadium was a huge moment for Joe Brady’s Buffalo Bills, but ironically enough, the gravity of the moment did not affect the Bills head coach, whatsoever. And that’s honestly a great thing for a team looking to make the Super Bowl.
Thursday night was a great experience for a lot of reasons and things couldn’t have turned out better for Joe Brady and the Buffalo Bills as they christened the brand new Highmark Stadium with a big victory over the Detroit Lions.
The pregame atmosphere was electric, as expected. The folks who run the show over at Highmark really earned their paychecks by putting on one of the most vivid openings in recent memory.
It had zero effect on Joe Brady, however, and while that’s naturally surprising, it’s understandable when listening to his explanation.
“I had none,” Brady said when asked what his emotions were when running out of the tunnel for the first time at Highmark as a first-time head coach. “I’ve said all along, like I’ve hoped, you know, maybe I would feel something. (But) it was another game for me.
“Look, it was a game that Buffalo deserved, right? I’m so excited for the city to to get the result that, you know, there was a lot of time in the making at the stadium. The atmosphere was was incredible. (But) when I’m in it, I don’t get a chance to to actually take it all in, but my message to the team this week was, allow the environment to change and it’s going to be different but we have to stay the same.
“And I was proud of how our guys didn’t allow the environment to negatively impact them. But for me, it was just another day for me.”
Joe Brady’s lack of emotion is exactly what the Bills need to reach the Super Bowl
Sure, you love to see it when coaches get fired up on the sidelines, whether it’s a positive or negative reaction to whatever is going on.
At the same time though, a lot can be said for the stoic guys who keep their attention on the bigger picture, which is doing everything in their power to make sure their team wins the game that’s in front of them.
For Brady to avoid getting caught up in the moment (think of the flak Nick Sirianni took for shedding a tear before the Super Bowl, fair or not) is the kind of focus and intent required for a leader to navigate through whatever is going on at the time and it shows an ability to avoid the distractions that don’t matter.
Players will feed off that, too. Knowing they have a leader who stays the course and tends to the things that are most important typically leads to putting players in the best position(s) possible and that leads to the results we saw on Thursday night.
Overall, it’s cold-blooded, but in the best way possible. And the approach will only validate itself more as the Bills continue to win games.
