For Brandon Spikes the message is clear
Last season New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick asked Brandon Spikes a simple question; "Do you know how good you can be?". Brandon did not have the answer at the moment but eventually he looked in the mirror and asked himself the same question. His breakout 2012 campaign was as he put it the "steppingstone" to the answer.
In a season where Spikes had 92 tackles, 7 pass defenses, 5 forced fumbles and 1 sack Brandon backed up his smash mouth play and established himself as an NFL enforcer in the middle of the field. That impressive season came on the heels of Brandon's conversation with Bill and some pure hard work with Pete Bommarito and his performance program in Florida.
Spike's took it upon himself to improve his weaknesses even if it meant skipping voluntary workouts, a practice that is frowned upon in NFL circles. Although Brandon once again chose to train with Bommarito this off season he has expanded his commitment to improving in the film room as well.
“It’s different for me because I never, ever tried to do that,” Spikes said of learning the defense as a whole. “But as far as knowing where everyone is supposed to be, where they’re going to be, the pre-snap reads, the post-snap reads, it just helps me out. As far as reading schemes, I’m noticing formations and stuff like that. Bill is always on me, ‘Don’t get complacent. Do more and more, and the better you are, the better we are.’ I try to be accountable.”
His dedication on and off the field produced concrete results by way of several career highs and hammer spikes. Now with another off season of learning and improving physically Brandon Spikes recognizes "it's time to take that step". If he repeats his recipe as he has attempted to once again Brandon Spikes will have accomplished one of his very few individual goals; "Try to be Great"
Frank Cypriano
@JulioFranko17
