Dissecting QB Development

Great quarterbacks are a special breed. One of the toughest positions to learn and play in all of sports, a quarterback has to be mentally tough enough to handle pressure from all angles, both on and off the field. Saturday's New York Times article about USC QB Mark Sanchez highlights many psychological components of performance, from his father's creative development activities to his ability to learn from mistakes.On focus:When Sanchez took batting practice as a teenager, his father quizzed him on the periodic table as each pitch was about to arrive. While gauging the speed and location of a fastball, his brain was also attempting to recall the atomic weight of magnesium.When he was younger, he dribbled a basketball while wearing glasses that blocked his view of the ball — all the while facing rapid-fire questions on multiplication tables. And when he dropped back to pass a football, working on his touch by lobbing the ball over a goal post, he had to know who the 13th pre...