Adam Caplan is a sports media member with more than 20 years in football. From local radio work to national coverage with ESPN, Fox, and Sirius Radio, Caplan has unique insights on players and coaches from his years of covering football. Caplan joins veteran NFL agent and host of Pro Mindset® Podcast, Craig Domann to talk about his unique perspective on what the role of the media in the NFL is. Caplan shares that belief and positive lifestyle enable players and coaches to build a Pro Mindset.
“If you do everything the right way, you don't have anything to worry about. If you do something that's bad, well whose fault is that?”
In his position as a member of the NFL media corp, Caplan reports on all aspects of a player, including off-field issues. In the age of social media, many off-the-field issues are easily accessible to the public eye. For this reason, it is more important than ever that players take accountability for their actions. Admitting to their mistakes gains them more respect in the long run. It is the first step in moving towards a more responsible lifestyle that will allow them to be more successful. To blame the media for making things worse is not a solution. The media has a job just like professional athletes do. In essence, he shares that the media will hold players accountable even if they cannot hold themselves accountable. At the NFL level, there is no “flying under the radar.” Between traditional media and social media, players live under a microscope. Lifestyle is a building block of the Pro Mindset. If a person makes poor decisions in their personal life, it can sabotage their professional life.
“We're all going to fail. That is the way it is. Even the best of us fail but you pick yourself up, understand that things are going to happen to you [that] you may not have control over, and you don't worry about it.”
Caplan’s time covering the league has given him unique insight on what enables players and coaches to prosper. Over the years, he has found the one thing that makes players and coaches successful is self-belief. Caplan explains that belief is not just essential to make it in the NFL but life as well. His time working at ESPN got cut short when he got let go unexpectedly. He did not let setbacks out of his control stop him from continuing on his path in media. If he had dwelled on being let go rather than using it as a learning experience and finding a way to move on, he would not have been able to push himself to where he is today. For players, this means dealing with unexpected trades or cuts from teams. For other people, it is getting fired or rejected for new positions. The important thing is remaining confident and consistently working hard to accomplish your dreams. As Caplan puts it: “You gotta be you. Because in the end, …if you're going to go down, you better be going down as yourself.”
To hear more about Adam Caplan, his time covering the NFL, and building a Pro Mindset, listen to the Pro Mindset Podcast here.
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