Playing To Win

I'm sure you've heard that adversity builds character and strength. And these are, in my mind, the two most important components of perseverance.

During the Broncos' 1996 season, we built more character and strength than even I could bear. In our opening playoff game, following a 13-3 record and what was then the best regular season in franchise history, Jacksonville beat us 30-27 in Denver. It was one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history. The Jaguars, an expansion team, were only in their second year of existence. We didn't take them as seriously as we should have, and we paid dearly for it.

Throughout the off-season, I reviewed our preparation the week prior to that Jacksonville game. The way I had addressed the team, the way we had designed our game plan and the manner in which we had implemented it. No matter how many times I broke it down, my realization was the same: I did not prepare the team as well as I should have. We did not approach the game with the sense of urgency you need to win. Period.

At the start of the next season's playoffs, we vented a year's worth of rage during our opening round 42-17 playoff win over Jacksonville. That began our journey to our first Super Bowl victory, during which I learned a valuable lesson: You can't keep winning unless you know how much you hate losing.

This article was originally published in the September 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Playing To Win.