Saints embrace Kobe’s ‘Mamba Mentality’
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As the pregame clock ticks down from hours to minutes, Demario Davis always begins praying for forgiveness.
He envisions every scenario that could possibly present itself in any given contest. And the Saints’ linebacker knows how he must respond. He knows the violent nature with which he must attack and the pain that he is expected to inflict. So before Davis can adapt the necessary mind-set, he first pre-atones.
“It’s a lot of focus,” the seventh-year veteran tells USA TODAY. “For me, it’s
like, I have to ask for forgiveness for what I’m about to do on the field, and then when I’m coming off the field, I’m asking forgiveness for what I just did on the field, because you have to go to a killer mentality. Mamba Mentality.”
That’s right. Mamba, as in Kobe Bryant. The retired Lakers’ great has long fascinated Davis. He watches every interview Bryant gives, watches his “Detail” film breakdowns for ESPN, and bought his book “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play” hoping to glean insight on how to raise his level of play. Davis continues.
“I remember reading about why he had to create that Mamba Mentality and I try to bring that to my game because it’s like, ‘I’m Demario off the field, but I’m Magic on the field.’ Just like he’s Kobe off the court, but on the court, he’s Mamba. You can’t be that nice guy on the field. You’ve got to have that switch. For me, it’s a mental process. It’s a psych, to go to another place.”
Davis understands it’s mental fortitude that makes the difference between average and game-changing performances. Adapting his version of Mamba Mentality has positioned him to record a team-high 103 tackles to go with four sacks, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles, and he believes it could help carry the Saints to the Super Bowl.
“Mamba Mentality,” he said. “You’ve got to play that one in front of you. … The biggest point Kobe talks about is, win or lose, your process has to be the same. If you win, gotta go and make your corrections and keep balling. If we lose, we go in and make corrections, come back stronger the next week. Mamba Mentality. It’s like, what’s your goal — your end goal? Our goal isn’t to win all our regular-season games. We have a bigger goal, the ultimate end goal.”
Davis’ teammates might have different styles, rituals or names for it, but they share the same mentality.
It can mean the difference between winning or losing a battle of wills against an opponent that’s just as physically gifted. It can enable an athlete to stave off exhaustion and make one more contribution in the clutch. And such mental stamina can enable a player and his team to gut their way through lateseason performances to eke out a win.
That was the case Monday night in Charlotte, where the Saints survived a physical bout with the NFC South rival Panthers, a game that came down to the final seconds of play and essentially was determined by the squad that managed to make one fewer mistake.
The NFL season is a grind. And in Week 15, we saw numerous front-runners produce uncharacteristic performances that resulted in defeat. The Chiefs, Patriots and Rams all lost. But New Orleans prevailed.
The Saints didn’t have it offensively Monday. They managed one touchdown despite entering the game averaging
32.8 points. Whether on the ground or through the air, yards proved hard to come by, and so too did momentum.
“We don’t get discouraged by very much. We know we don’t have to do anything extra. We know we just have to do our job,” guard Larry Warford said. “Play how we practice. ... We don’t have to be Superman. ... We know we can rely on our defense and they know they can rely us. It might be ugly, might not be the way we want, but whatever storm, we’re going to weather it.”
The Saints’ offensive struggles weren’t limited to Monday. They haven’t scored a first-half touchdown in three consecutive games. And although their defense has played well, limiting foes to
12 points per game during this postThanksgiving stretch, New Orleans looks anything but dominant.
The Saints do, however, remain healthy mentally. They speak of themselves with a peculiar blend of confidence and humility. There’s no panic over the diminished offensive production. But there’s no pride over the league-best 12-2 record. They see themselves as capable of winning a Super Bowl but also don’t view their accomplishments to date as anything special.
Opponents might have played them closer, but that’s not a result of subconscious coasting because of their No. 1 standing in the NFC.
The Saints insist they haven’t let up. “We ain’t did nothing. We ain’t did nothing. We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” running back Mark Ingram insisted. “So that’s what keeps you hungry. We ain’t did nothing. We ain’t got no trophies, ain’t got no title. So we’re hungry for that. We’re hungry for that.”