"You working out today?" Sully asked.

"Well, I didn't think I could with my ankle," Martin answered.

"Nothing's wrong with your arms and chest," Sully said as he laughed with his Boston accent.

"No, my chest and arms are fine," Martin said knowing that Sully was indirectly calling him out.

"Great, then lay down on this bench press and put your legs on the bench so you don't put pressure on your ankle and let's bang out a few sets. We need to get your chest and triceps stronger so you can improve your pass blocking."

"You like the weight room?" Sully asked as Martin finished his first set.

"I do," answered Martin. "I practically lived in the weight room in college."

"Good," Sully said. "Because if you want to make it in this league, this weight room needs to be your second home. I watched you the other night and you are fast as lightning and you have an innate ability on the field, but that's not what's going to make you great. As Coach and I were discussing before you showed up, what will make you great is coming here every day, injured or not, and getting stronger every day. I've also got this agility and performance training program I need to share with you that's based on what Jerry Rice did all his years of playing. You know Jerry wasn't the fastest. And he wasn't the tallest. And over the years he wasn't the youngest. But Jerry worked and trained harder than any football player I've ever known. That's why he became the greatest wide receiver to ever play the game. Everyone thinks he was the best because of how he performed on Game Day, but actually it's how he prepared for Game Day that made him perform so well. So if you want to be great you have to commit to a challenging process of preparation."

"He's right," Coach Ken added. "Yesterday I told you that you had to be willing to pay the price. Well, that price is paid with countless hours of hard work on the field and off the field. In fact, most of our time is actually spent preparing off the field, and it's not always fun. It's the same way with every aspect of life. I call it the Game-Day Principle. Five percent of a person's life is made up of our performance on game day, while 95 percent is made up of the time we are preparing, practicing, and waiting to perform. Think about it: We spend two hours on the field each day for practice and three hours, tops, during game day, and yet we spend thousands of hours in the weight room, training in the off-season, conditioning during the week, studying film, memorizing playbooks, the list goes on. The fact is, how we practice and prepare with 95 percent of our time determines how we perform on game day. It requires thousands of hours of practice, dedication, hard work, and focus.

"I know," answered Martin. "I read the part about 'The Myth' in the playbook. I never thought of success like that, and it made a lot of sense when I looked at what it has taken me to be here today."

"Good," answered Coach Ken. "Because it's going to take you even more to get to where you are going."

Martin nodded and smiled as Sully nodded his head and added, "Yes, the Myth. I love that part. So true. It reminds me of what Ben Hogan said when he was asked about playing great golf. He said, "It's in the dirt." Everyone thinks greatness is sexy, but it's dirty—hard work."

As Coach Ken, Sully, and Martin continued talking, Martin soaked up everything they said, knowing he had the desire and willingness to pay the price. But what he didn't know was that the difference between the best and the rest was very small.