Magic Johnson held a team meeting with the Commanders players today, the first time he has addressed the team solo since he became part-owner of the team in July – a meeting that delayed Sam Howell’s media availability among other things.
Well worth it, though, it seems, because from one athlete to another, Brian Mitchell knows
“I watched a thing where Ray Lewis talked to guys before a game, and some of the guys talked later about how it took them through a season,” BMitch said. “Depending on what he says and how it touches somebody…when you have guys of his level or ilk come in and give you a tidbit, it can be impactful enough to carry some guys through their careers. When people take the time to give you stuff, you try to hold on to it.”
Mitchell compared it to Deion Sanders at Colorado, where players ‘have a legend talking to you every day,’ and while that’s also a coach-player situation, Magic is a part-owner and isn’t as fully invested in everything that goes on around the program, so to speak.
To JP Finlay, though, the fact it’s a minority owner AND someone as big as Magic has to count for something…a notion Brian Mitchell also understood and agreed with.
“I think there is so much momentum and excitement for Week 1, that some of it has to permeate to the players. That’s Magic Freakin’ Johnson,” JP said.
“It does, and Magic is world-renowned. When I rolled in here, I knew who coach Gibbs and Art Monk and Darrell Green were, and the things they said to me kept repeating in my head,” BMitch replied. “You figure out what part of the message is something they were telling you, and you attach to it and let it help you be more. When we went to a Super Bowl, I sat and talked to Walter Payton, and the things he said to me, I looked at them and said, ‘I have to remember all of this.’ If you don’t, something’s wrong with you.”