Deion Sanders: Don’t Let Past Mistakes Define Future Performance

It’s counterintuitive. But maybe that’s the point.

One would think that in order to move forward in life—indeed to find victory in the face of real challenges—you would need to remember. You would have to keep close some of your lowest moments, if for no other reason than to avoid them down the road. But memories can also hurt us. They can be weights that hold us down, instead of sign posts for future success.

You know who knows this? Coach Deion Sanders, one of the most brilliant and charismatic minds in football.

Sanders, who rose to fame in the NFL as a two-way player with All Pro talent on both sides of the ball, has most recently impressed college football fans as the head signal caller for the University of Colorado, a program that just this summer produced the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft (Travis Hunter). To put it succinctly, Sanders knows his stuff. The 58-year-old has been successful at every level of the game. But even with all those years of experience, sometimes Sanders still challenges himself to forget.

On Saturday, moments after his unranked Colorado Buffaloes defeated No. 22 Iowa State, 24-17, the coach was asked about his first-year starting quarterback. Last week, the Buffs’ QB Kaidon Salter threw two touchdowns…and three interceptions in a loss to TCU. That kind of game could drive anyone to sleepless nights, fraught and fixated days. But who does that benefit? It doesn’t make for a better player or inspire a team.

You know who knows that? Yes, Coach Sanders.

Against Iowa State on Saturday, Salter threw for two touchdowns and…zero interceptions.

That’s the power of forgetting.

“Your quarterback,” began ESPN reporter Kris Budden after the Iowa State game, “when you look at what he did last week, the three interceptions—what did you see in the decision making and his resiliency to have the performance he did today?”

“Able to have the ability to forget,” Sanders replied quickly.

Let that idea sink in. The football Hall of Famer who has perhaps more flashbulb moments than any other player in the history of the game, the icon who couldn’t be more memorable, professing the value of forgetting on national television. While Sanders clearly understands the importance of a lasting image, he also knows that to be worthy of the commercials and TV appearances, you first and foremost have to win.

And in order to win, sometimes you have to let a bad moment go.

“Too many things we carry though life just burden us,” Sanders said, the Colorado faithful behind him, still cheering madly after the upset. “But if we teach these young men to understand how to forget—good or bad, you got to forget and move onto the next play.”

The best leaders don’t just talk. They live what they preach. And Sanders is no stranger to that pulpit. More recently, as has been reported, the loquacious coach has been dealing with difficult health issues. As Budden noted in that same post-game interview, he’d undergone surgery that very week. But he wasn’t interested in taking the praise or in looking backwards at a hospital bed. “It’s not about me,” Sanders told the ESPN reporter. “God’s got me.” This is the tenor of someone who others will follow into the unknown.

If you’re a leader, observe Sanders. Teach your team the ability to forget. Of course, the coach isn’t professing ignorance. Far from it. He’s not saying to forget birthdays, names, or other important pieces of information. Instead, he advises those in high-pressure situations to lighten themselves and cast away that which doesn’t serve. If you dwell on a mistake, chances are you’re going to repeat it. In basketball, shooting coaches will tell you, if a player goes to the free-throw line and repeats Don’t miss, don’t miss, they’ll more than likely do just that—miss.

Every year, Sanders loses players to the NFL draft. That’s the nature of college football. It can be easy, therefore, to get off to slow starts. This year, the Buffaloes are just 3-4 after beating the Cyclones. Last year, they finished 9-4. But if Sanders only lived in the past, there would be no way his team would have any chance this year of a late season push. But that’s where his brilliance comes in. Forget last year, forget last week. Heck, forget the last play.

What’s in front of you—that’s what matters now.