Clutch (sports)
Encyclopedia
In American sport
s terminology, "clutch" means performing well under extreme pressure. It often refers to high levels of production in a critical game, such as Game 7 of a best-of-seven series, the last hole of a Major Championship golf tournament, or the final minute(s) in a close match. Being "clutch" is often seen by sportswriters and fans as an innate skill which some players have while others do not. The term "clutch" is also using in modern first person shooter games, usually in tactical game modes where the survivor of a team kills the remaining enemy team by himself.
," or one who is, by definition, never clutch, a player doomed to fail in any and all pressure-packed situations.
, which compiles evidence that no baseball players are demonstrably consistently clutch over the course of a career, and that the numbers of allegedly clutch players in clutch situations are in fact no different from players reputed to be "chokers."
The Baseball Prospectus team is hardly alone in their skepticism: various baseball analysts, including Bill James
, Pete Palmer
, and Dick Cramer
, have similarly found so-called "clutch hitting" ability to be a myth. This is not to say that clutch hits, like those listed below, do not exist, but rather that any innate ability to perform well in high-pressure situations is an illusion. In his 1984 Baseball Abstract, James framed the problem with clutch hitting thusly: "How is it that a player who possesses the reflexes and the batting stroke and the knowledge and the experience to be a .260 hitter in other circumstances magically becomes a .300 hitter when the game is on the line? How does that happen? What is the process? What are the effects? Until we can answer those questions, I see little point in talking about clutch ability." Most studies on the matter involved comparing performance in the "clutch" category of statistics (production with runners in scoring position, performance late in close games, etc.) between seasons; if clutch hitting were an actual skill, it would follow that the same players would do well in the clutch statistics year in and year out (the correlation coefficient
between players' performances over multiple seasons would be high). Cramer's study was the first of its kind, and it found that clutch hitting numbers between seasons for the same player varied wildly; in fact, the variance
was the kind one would expect if the numbers had been selected randomly. Since Cramer published his results, many others have tried to find some evidence that clutch hitting is a skill, but almost every study has confirmed Cramer's initial findings: that "clutch hitting," in terms of certain players being able to "rise to the occasion" under pressure, is an illusion.
The explanation offered by most skeptics is that players who have several memorable hits in big games, especially early in their careers, acquire the mantle of "clutch hitter," and fans then unconsciously watch for such hits in the future from those players in particular, falsely reinforcing their beliefs over time. Despite the evidence, many people in baseball steadfastly believe in the idea of the clutch hitter. Derek Jeter
once told Sports Illustrated
after SI reported to the Yankees
shortstop
that many analysts deny clutch hitting as a skill, "You can take those stat guys and throw them out the window."
In many cases, a simple review of statistics debunks the notion that certain players are "clutch" performers. Baseball's Reggie Jackson
has long been known as "Mr. October" because of his alleged ability to elevate his game in the post-season. A look at his post-season statistics is instructive. In 281 post-season at-bats, Jackson batted .278 with 18 homers and 48 RBIs. Extrapolated, that would mean 36 homers and 96 RBIs in a full season, which is approximately what we would expect from Jackson in a typical season. The numbers suggest that Reggie Jackson was not a "clutch" performer but a very solid player who performed about the same in the regular season and the post-season.
Similarly, despite his reputation as a "money pitcher," Jack Morris
had a post-season E.R.A. of 3.80, almost exactly the same as his career 3.90 E.R.A. in the regular season. And Derek Jeter, supposedly a "clutch" hitter, has batted .314 in the post-season, almost the same as his career .317 average in the regular season.
in golf
, Michael Jordan
, Jerry West
, Hakeem Olajuwon
, John Havlicek
, Larry Bird
, Reggie Miller
, Chauncey Billups
, Kobe Bryant
, and Dirk Nowitzki
in basketball
, Mariano Rivera
, Derek Jeter
, David Ortiz
, Andre Ethier
, John Smoltz
and Reggie Jackson
in baseball
, Pete Sampras
(and, more recently, Rafael Nadal
) in tennis
; Werner Schlager
in table-tennis; Romario
, Zidane, Xavi Hernandez, Samuel Eto'o
, Lionel Messi
and Steven Gerrard
in soccer, Ayrton Senna
and Michael Schumacher
in Formula 1, Jonny Wilkinson
in Rugby Union
, and have all been labeled "clutch" during their careers for performing at a high level in high pressure situations, despite the fact that they (basically) always played that way. Former NBA great Jerry West
had such a high reputation as a clutch player that he was given the nickname, "Mr. Clutch." In ice hockey
, few players have had as much success in the regular season as goaltender Patrick Roy
, but it was in the playoffs that Roy was at his best, winning 3 Conn Smythe Trophies
(a feat no other player has accomplished), as well as leading his teams to 4 Stanley Cup
s and being the record holder for wins in post-seasons. Roy is considered by most as the best goaltender in ice hockey history because of his outstanding tenure in the postseason. Martin Brodeur
is quickly gaining recognition as a great clutch player due to his consistency in both the regular season and post season. His performance in shootouts also speaks volumes for his abilities under pressure. NFL
players like Joe Montana
and Tom Brady
, neither blessed with the athleticism and arm strength of "prototype" quarterbacks like Dan Marino
, came up big when their respective teams, the San Francisco 49ers
and New England Patriots
, needed them in the Super Bowl
or in any other big game. Neither Brady nor Montana have put up the stats Marino (who lost his only Super Bowl appearance to Montana) did in his career, but they have 7 Super Bowl wins between them (Montana 4, Brady 3). "Possession" Wide Receivers such as Ricky Proehl
, Keyshawn Johnson
, Hines Ward
, and Troy Brown
are known to be "clutch." Kickers are commonly exalted for their clutch play as well: former Patriot (and as of this writing, current Indianapolis Colts kicker), Adam Vinatieri
has been called the "greatest clutch kicker ever" on the basis of (essentially) five kicks: game-winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI
and Super Bowl XXXVIII
, a 47 yard game winning field goal in frigid weather against Tennessee in the 2004 playoffs, and two others in the 2002 Divisional Playoffs against the Oakland Raiders
(in a major snowstorm, no less): one which tied the game, and another in overtime to seal a victory. However, those were not his only clutch kicks: Vinatieri kicked 20 game-winners for New England in his career.
(who has now won 7 NBA Championships) has practically admitted to coasting during the NBA
's regular season, but always ends up doing something amazing in the playoffs. First, he helped the Houston Rockets
win two NBA crowns in the mid-1990's. Then, while with the Los Angeles Lakers
in 2002, Horry helped bury the Sacramento Kings
by nailing an improbable buzzer-beater to win Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. In 2005, Horry drilled 5 3-pointers
in the 4th Quarter and overtime (including one with 5.8 seconds left in the extra period) of Game 5 of the NBA Finals
, giving the San Antonio Spurs
a crucial win over the Detroit Pistons
. In 2007, Horry was a role player on yet another NBA championship team, as the Spurs captured the title in a 4-game sweep over Cleveland.
At the same time, skeptics note that, over his career, Robert Horry has hit 36.3% of his 3-point shot attempts in the post-season. Horry's career 3-point shot percentage is almost exactly the same. Hence, while Horry has hit some very memorable shots in important games, he has not "elevated" his performance in the post-season. Rather, he has performed in the post-season just as he always has in the regular season.
Steve Kerr
is another NBA player who, while not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, always seemed to be in the middle of big playoff moments. In 1997, it was Kerr who took the pass from Michael Jordan and made the game-winning shot in Game Six of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, giving the Bulls back-to-back championships. In the last minute of Game 2 of the 1998 Finals, Kerr missed a 3 point shot but grabbed his own rebound and dished to Michael Jordan, who scored a layup that helped the Bulls even the series at 1-1. Chicago would go on to win another championship that year, thanks in part to Kerr's efforts. In 1999, Kerr helped the San Antonio Spurs
win the franchise's first-ever title, and in the 2003 playoffs Kerr made four critical three-pointers in the final minutes of Game Six of the Spurs' Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks, keying their victory. That same season, Kerr and San Antonio would go on to win the NBA championship over New Jersey.
Los Angeles Lakers
Derek Fisher
is also known for his clutchness, one of his greatest clutch moments is in game 4 of the 2009 NBA finals where he hit a 3-pointer to tie the game in 4th quarter and a 3-pointer that won the game in overtime
Claude Lemieux
seems to be ice hockey
's version of Horry and Kerr, winning four Stanley Cups with three different teams in the 1990s and early 2000s (including one Conn Smythe Trophy
as playoff MVP). Dwayne Roloson
is another example of an average player who steps up his game during the playoffs with his performances in the 2006 Playoffs with the Edmonton Oilers
and the 2003 Minnesota Wild
. Glenn Anderson
could be considered amongst the most clutch players in NHL history with 5 overtime goals and 17 game winning goals in the Stanley Cup
playoffs.
Golfer Andy North
(at best a mediocre PGA Tour
player) won only three career tournaments, but two of them were U.S. Opens
. In 2003, golfers Ben Curtis
and Shaun Micheel
made Major Championships the site of their first PGA Tour win.
Stephen Donald (aka Stephen 'the duck' Donald) - RWC 2011 Player of the Tournament (After only taking the field for 53 Minutes) - Guinness Book of Records "Most Clutch" Sports performance.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s terminology, "clutch" means performing well under extreme pressure. It often refers to high levels of production in a critical game, such as Game 7 of a best-of-seven series, the last hole of a Major Championship golf tournament, or the final minute(s) in a close match. Being "clutch" is often seen by sportswriters and fans as an innate skill which some players have while others do not. The term "clutch" is also using in modern first person shooter games, usually in tactical game modes where the survivor of a team kills the remaining enemy team by himself.
Usage
A "clutch" athlete is one who performs well in pivotal or high pressure situations. This includes many instances where a good performance means the difference between a win and a loss. Being on many championship teams (preferably with different franchises, or in different seasons with different teammates) seems to help a player's reputation for being clutch, but it is no guarantee in and of itself. Seizing upon one's opportunities in pressure situations is the common thread among all "clutch" players, though, as a player's poor past performance will be forgotten if he/she can make one big play under pressure. Of course, the opposite of being "clutch" is being a "chokerChoke (sports)
In sports, a "choke" is the failure of an athlete or an athletic team to win a game or tournament when the player or team had been strongly favored to win or had squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event...
," or one who is, by definition, never clutch, a player doomed to fail in any and all pressure-packed situations.
Skeptics
Some sports analysts have presented evidence that while individual plays and moments may resonate as "clutch" because of their importance, there is no such thing as "clutch ability" or an inherently clutch player. One example of such an argument is presented in the 2006 book Baseball Between the Numbers published by Baseball ProspectusBaseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well player and team performance projections on the site...
, which compiles evidence that no baseball players are demonstrably consistently clutch over the course of a career, and that the numbers of allegedly clutch players in clutch situations are in fact no different from players reputed to be "chokers."
The Baseball Prospectus team is hardly alone in their skepticism: various baseball analysts, including Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
, Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer is a major contributor to the applied mathematical field referred to as sabermetrics. Along with the Bill James Baseball Abstracts, Palmer's book The Hidden Game of Baseball is often referred to as providing the foundation upon which the field of sabermetrics was built.Palmer began his...
, and Dick Cramer
Dick Cramer
William B. Cramer was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played in two games for the 1883 New York Gothams.-External links:...
, have similarly found so-called "clutch hitting" ability to be a myth. This is not to say that clutch hits, like those listed below, do not exist, but rather that any innate ability to perform well in high-pressure situations is an illusion. In his 1984 Baseball Abstract, James framed the problem with clutch hitting thusly: "How is it that a player who possesses the reflexes and the batting stroke and the knowledge and the experience to be a .260 hitter in other circumstances magically becomes a .300 hitter when the game is on the line? How does that happen? What is the process? What are the effects? Until we can answer those questions, I see little point in talking about clutch ability." Most studies on the matter involved comparing performance in the "clutch" category of statistics (production with runners in scoring position, performance late in close games, etc.) between seasons; if clutch hitting were an actual skill, it would follow that the same players would do well in the clutch statistics year in and year out (the correlation coefficient
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
In statistics, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of the correlation between two variables X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1 inclusive...
between players' performances over multiple seasons would be high). Cramer's study was the first of its kind, and it found that clutch hitting numbers between seasons for the same player varied wildly; in fact, the variance
Variance
In probability theory and statistics, the variance is a measure of how far a set of numbers is spread out. It is one of several descriptors of a probability distribution, describing how far the numbers lie from the mean . In particular, the variance is one of the moments of a distribution...
was the kind one would expect if the numbers had been selected randomly. Since Cramer published his results, many others have tried to find some evidence that clutch hitting is a skill, but almost every study has confirmed Cramer's initial findings: that "clutch hitting," in terms of certain players being able to "rise to the occasion" under pressure, is an illusion.
The explanation offered by most skeptics is that players who have several memorable hits in big games, especially early in their careers, acquire the mantle of "clutch hitter," and fans then unconsciously watch for such hits in the future from those players in particular, falsely reinforcing their beliefs over time. Despite the evidence, many people in baseball steadfastly believe in the idea of the clutch hitter. Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
once told Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
after SI reported to the Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
that many analysts deny clutch hitting as a skill, "You can take those stat guys and throw them out the window."
In many cases, a simple review of statistics debunks the notion that certain players are "clutch" performers. Baseball's Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
has long been known as "Mr. October" because of his alleged ability to elevate his game in the post-season. A look at his post-season statistics is instructive. In 281 post-season at-bats, Jackson batted .278 with 18 homers and 48 RBIs. Extrapolated, that would mean 36 homers and 96 RBIs in a full season, which is approximately what we would expect from Jackson in a typical season. The numbers suggest that Reggie Jackson was not a "clutch" performer but a very solid player who performed about the same in the regular season and the post-season.
Similarly, despite his reputation as a "money pitcher," Jack Morris
Jack Morris
John Scott "Jack" Morris is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He played in 18 big league seasons between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers, and won 254 games throughout his career...
had a post-season E.R.A. of 3.80, almost exactly the same as his career 3.90 E.R.A. in the regular season. And Derek Jeter, supposedly a "clutch" hitter, has batted .314 in the post-season, almost the same as his career .317 average in the regular season.
The Great Ones
Some athletes with alleged great focus and mental strength are notable for their clutch performances, even though their "regular season" (or the equivalent thereof) performance is equally good; for example, Tiger WoodsTiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
in golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Jerry West
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
, Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
, John Havlicek
John Havlicek
John J. "Hondo" Havlicek is a retired American professional basketball player who competed for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA titles, half of them coming in his first four seasons....
, Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, Reggie Miller
Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne "Reggie" Miller is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association career with the Indiana Pacers...
, Chauncey Billups
Chauncey Billups
Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball point guard for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association . He has also played for Team USA. Billups won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004, helping the Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the...
, Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, and Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association...
in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera is a Panamanian right-handed baseball pitcher who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Mo", Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his career, and since 1997, he has been the Yankees' closer...
, Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
, David Ortiz
David Ortiz
David Américo Ortiz Arias , known as David Ortiz, nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican American professional baseball player who is currently a free agent. Previously, Ortiz played with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox...
, Andre Ethier
Andre Ethier
Andre Everett Ethier , is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.In 2009, Ethier hit six walk off hits , which was the most by any player in the Major Leagues since 1974. His four walk-off home runs tied the Major League record for most in a season...
, John Smoltz
John Smoltz
John Andrew Smoltz is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and active sportscaster. He is best known for his prolific career of more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, in which he garnered eight All-Star selections and received the Cy Young Award in 1996...
and Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
(and, more recently, Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
) in tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
; Werner Schlager
Werner Schlager
Werner Schlager is a former world champion table tennis player from Austria.-Career:Schlager began playing table tennis when he was six years old, learning from his father and brother who were also top Austrian players, making them ideal training partners...
in table-tennis; Romario
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...
, Zidane, Xavi Hernandez, Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o Fils is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team.Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy...
, Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a striker. Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010...
and Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 89 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfielder role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger...
in soccer, Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
and Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
in Formula 1, Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE is an English rugby union player and member of the England national team. Wilkinson rose to acclaim from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and was acknowledged as one of the world’s best rugby players...
in Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, and have all been labeled "clutch" during their careers for performing at a high level in high pressure situations, despite the fact that they (basically) always played that way. Former NBA great Jerry West
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
had such a high reputation as a clutch player that he was given the nickname, "Mr. Clutch." In ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, few players have had as much success in the regular season as goaltender Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy
Patrick Edward Armand Roy is a former Canadian ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Saint Patrick," Roy split his professional career between the Montreal Canadiens, whom he played with for 10 years, and the Colorado Avalanche, whom he played with for 8 years, both of the National Hockey League...
, but it was in the playoffs that Roy was at his best, winning 3 Conn Smythe Trophies
Conn Smythe Trophy
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
(a feat no other player has accomplished), as well as leading his teams to 4 Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
s and being the record holder for wins in post-seasons. Roy is considered by most as the best goaltender in ice hockey history because of his outstanding tenure in the postseason. Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur
Martin Pierre Brodeur is a French-Canadian ice hockey goaltender who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the New Jersey Devils. In his 19-year tenure with the Devils, he has won three Stanley Cup championships and has been in the playoffs every year but two...
is quickly gaining recognition as a great clutch player due to his consistency in both the regular season and post season. His performance in shootouts also speaks volumes for his abilities under pressure. NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
players like Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...
and Tom Brady
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom" Brady, Jr. is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League . After playing college football at Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.He has played in four Super Bowls,...
, neither blessed with the athleticism and arm strength of "prototype" quarterbacks like Dan Marino
Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine "Dan" Marino, Jr. is a retired American football quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...
, came up big when their respective teams, the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
and New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, needed them in the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
or in any other big game. Neither Brady nor Montana have put up the stats Marino (who lost his only Super Bowl appearance to Montana) did in his career, but they have 7 Super Bowl wins between them (Montana 4, Brady 3). "Possession" Wide Receivers such as Ricky Proehl
Ricky Proehl
Richard Scott Proehl is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. Proehl played 17 seasons with the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Indianapolis Colts...
, Keyshawn Johnson
Keyshawn Johnson
Joseph Keyshawn Johnson is a former American football wide receiver, interior designer, business executive, author and current television broadcaster for sports channel ESPN. He retired from football on May 23, 2007 after an eleven-year career in the National Football League...
, Hines Ward
Hines Ward
Hines E. Ward, Jr. is an American football player who currently plays the wide receiver position for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, where he is the longest-tenured current player on the team. He was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL. He played college football at the University of Georgia...
, and Troy Brown
Troy Brown
Troy Fitzgerald Brown is a former NFL wide receiver, cornerback and punt returner in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Marshall...
are known to be "clutch." Kickers are commonly exalted for their clutch play as well: former Patriot (and as of this writing, current Indianapolis Colts kicker), Adam Vinatieri
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Matthew Vinatieri is an American football placekicker currently playing for the Indianapolis Colts. He has played in six Super Bowls, four with the New England Patriots and two with the Colts, winning four. Vinatieri won a Super Bowl in 2006 with Indianapolis and won Super Bowls in 2001,...
has been called the "greatest clutch kicker ever" on the basis of (essentially) five kicks: game-winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...
and Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
, a 47 yard game winning field goal in frigid weather against Tennessee in the 2004 playoffs, and two others in the 2002 Divisional Playoffs against the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(in a major snowstorm, no less): one which tied the game, and another in overtime to seal a victory. However, those were not his only clutch kicks: Vinatieri kicked 20 game-winners for New England in his career.
The average ones who "raise their games" dramatically in the clutch
Still others have based their entire careers around the perception of being "clutch." "Big Shot Rob" Robert HorryRobert Horry
Robert Keith Horry Jr. is a retired American basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association , winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics...
(who has now won 7 NBA Championships) has practically admitted to coasting during the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's regular season, but always ends up doing something amazing in the playoffs. First, he helped the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
win two NBA crowns in the mid-1990's. Then, while with the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in 2002, Horry helped bury the Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
by nailing an improbable buzzer-beater to win Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. In 2005, Horry drilled 5 3-pointers
Three-point field goal
A three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game, made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc radiating from the basket...
in the 4th Quarter and overtime (including one with 5.8 seconds left in the extra period) of Game 5 of the NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
, giving the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
a crucial win over the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
. In 2007, Horry was a role player on yet another NBA championship team, as the Spurs captured the title in a 4-game sweep over Cleveland.
At the same time, skeptics note that, over his career, Robert Horry has hit 36.3% of his 3-point shot attempts in the post-season. Horry's career 3-point shot percentage is almost exactly the same. Hence, while Horry has hit some very memorable shots in important games, he has not "elevated" his performance in the post-season. Rather, he has performed in the post-season just as he always has in the regular season.
Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas "Steve" Kerr is a retired American professional basketball player. He shot .454 from three point range over his career and currently holds the record as the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history...
is another NBA player who, while not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, always seemed to be in the middle of big playoff moments. In 1997, it was Kerr who took the pass from Michael Jordan and made the game-winning shot in Game Six of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, giving the Bulls back-to-back championships. In the last minute of Game 2 of the 1998 Finals, Kerr missed a 3 point shot but grabbed his own rebound and dished to Michael Jordan, who scored a layup that helped the Bulls even the series at 1-1. Chicago would go on to win another championship that year, thanks in part to Kerr's efforts. In 1999, Kerr helped the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
win the franchise's first-ever title, and in the 2003 playoffs Kerr made four critical three-pointers in the final minutes of Game Six of the Spurs' Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks, keying their victory. That same season, Kerr and San Antonio would go on to win the NBA championship over New Jersey.
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
Derek Fisher
Derek Fisher
Derek Lamar Fisher is an American professional basketball point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His NBA career has spanned more than 14 years, during which he has won five NBA Championships...
is also known for his clutchness, one of his greatest clutch moments is in game 4 of the 2009 NBA finals where he hit a 3-pointer to tie the game in 4th quarter and a 3-pointer that won the game in overtime
Claude Lemieux
Claude Lemieux
Claude Percy Lemieux is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for the San Jose Sharks before announcing his retirement on July 8, 2009. He is one of only ten players in Stanley Cup history to win the Cup with three different teams. His 80 career playoff goals are the...
seems to be ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
's version of Horry and Kerr, winning four Stanley Cups with three different teams in the 1990s and early 2000s (including one Conn Smythe Trophy
Conn Smythe Trophy
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
as playoff MVP). Dwayne Roloson
Dwayne Roloson
Albert Dwayne Roloson is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League . He has previously played for the Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Islanders during his professional career...
is another example of an average player who steps up his game during the playoffs with his performances in the 2006 Playoffs with the Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
and the 2003 Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
. Glenn Anderson
Glenn Anderson
Glenn Christopher Anderson is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger in the National Hockey League who played for the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and St. Louis Blues...
could be considered amongst the most clutch players in NHL history with 5 overtime goals and 17 game winning goals in the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
playoffs.
Golfer Andy North
Andy North
Andrew Stewart North is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the U.S. Open twice.- Early years :North was born in Thorp, Wisconsin, and raised in Monona, Wisconsin...
(at best a mediocre PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
player) won only three career tournaments, but two of them were U.S. Opens
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
. In 2003, golfers Ben Curtis
Ben Curtis (golfer)
Ben Clifford Curtis is an American professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 Open Championship.-Early career:Curtis was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Ostrander, Ohio. His family runs the , also in Ostrander...
and Shaun Micheel
Shaun Micheel
Shaun Carl Micheel is an American golfer who is best known for his surprise victory in 2003 in one of golf's major championships, the PGA Championship....
made Major Championships the site of their first PGA Tour win.
Stephen Donald (aka Stephen 'the duck' Donald) - RWC 2011 Player of the Tournament (After only taking the field for 53 Minutes) - Guinness Book of Records "Most Clutch" Sports performance.