Former Ravens linebacker Jason Phillips has written a book, “Two Star Starter: The Mindset That M.A.D.E. Me,” about his path to the NFL, centered on the mindset that he calls ZTC, which stands for Zero-Talent Characteristics.
Zero-Talent Characteristics focus mainly on mental factors that can help a person succeed in life, such as taking on any opportunities available — even out of your comfort zone — and working as hard as you possibly can.
Phillips was a quarterback at Waller High School in Texas and was coached by his father Jim. He played his college ball at TCU, where he started off as a fullback in his redshirt season before being moved to linebacker and earning All-Mountain West honors all four years.
Phillips was selected in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He had a four-year NFL career, spending two with the Ravens and two with the Carolina Panthers. He suffered a torn ACL before he could officially play for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.
So how does someone go from redshirt fullback to perennial all-conference linebacker playing for the Ravens? The answer is mindset.
“When I went to my first recruiting camp I saw the talent that was out there. I saw all the guys and how big they were and how fast they were, but as camp went on, I saw a lot of them start to slide to the back. A lot of them didn’t want to jump out and take reps against the good guys,” Phillips, 40, said on Glenn Clark Radio June 16. “I never minded that. I just never minded failure. I didn’t really care about what people thought. I knew every time I failed it made me better.”
“I could see these guys. I could see they were better than me. I can see they’re faster than me, but I can see they don’t want to throw punches all day,” Phillips added. “I knew if I could come out and play as hard as possible every day, every game, every practice, I could play harder and longer than they did.”
Having a good mindset doesn’t make you invulnerable to hardship, however. Despite his impressive college resume, everything Phillips worked for was in doubt when he suffered a knee injury at the NFL Scouting Combine. Then-Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome offered him a lifeline but let him know the team would take some heat for drafting him.
“That was one thing I appreciated more than anything,” Phillips said. “[I was] the No. 2 linebacker in the draft. I had all these visits set up and everybody bailed except for the Ravens. When I was talking to him and he said it, it was almost like he didn’t realize what he was saying was so powerful. It was very nonchalant. It was just like, ‘Yeah, this is what these guys are going to think but they don’t know about you — and we know.'”
One person who shares Phillips’ mentality was Ravens legend Ray Lewis. The two were in Baltimore together in 2009 and 2010.
“When you have the Ray Lewis talent, the Ray Lewis ability and then you apply the Zero-Talent mindset … you are now the .01 percent of the 1 percent and that’s how Ray Lewis became the best to ever play the game on defense, because he was never satisfied,” Phillips said. “We had a coach named Dean Pees, probably one of the most knowledgeable linebacker coaches I’ve ever been around. Ray asked question after question, watched film all over. He carried a water jug around with him everywhere he went.
“It was his humility and his work ethic that really impressed me. He already had a Hall of Fame career and here’s a guy working just as hard, if not harder than the rookies on the little things, on the things that take no talent. I’ve always respected him, but that’s when I realized I need to be like this guy.”
Phillips’ opportunity in Baltimore actually led to a chance to meet Snoop Dogg. He had lunch with Snoop Dogg and Lewis one day during training camp.
“I didn’t think they’d sit with me. I just kind of assumed they’d find their own place and catch up with each other. I looked up and there was Snoop’s bodyguard and Ray and they were sitting down with me,” Phillips recalled. “I was like, ‘OK, this is cool.’ I didn’t think I’d get star-struck, but I did a little bit. … When I sat down there, I got a chance to talk to him and Snoop. I didn’t know what to say. I was terrified, quiet for the first five minutes.
“The only thing that kept coming to my head because I always thought it was really funny was that scene from ‘Old School’ when he asks him if he’ll bring his green hat. I mentioned that and as soon as I said it I was like, ‘Oh my god, that was bad.’ Surprisingly, Ray started laughing and the bodyguard started laughing. So I was like, ‘All right, these are just regular guys.’ It was an awesome situation because it was one of those times when you realize I will never be here again, I’ve got to make the most of it.”
For more from Phillips, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jason Phillips