Tom Brady had just stepped onto the campus of Junipero Serra High School in California when he went out for quarterback on the freshman football team. He wasn’t any good. This isn’t hyperbole or a downplaying of reality for literary effect. He literally sat on the bench, never cracking the lineup, for an 0-8-1 team that managed just two offensive touchdowns the entire season.
That offseason he became obsessed, as is his wont, with what Serra coaches called the “five-dot drill” that was designed to improve speed, quickness and footwork. It was grueling. Players generally hated it.