I've never played organized football.  I don't know from first hand experience what motivates players.  But I do have a finely tuned nonsense detector, and it went off when Michael Irvin said Giants running back Tiki Barber's plans to retire would make him a less effective leader.

Irvin, and most in the sports media, subscribe to the myth that football players are sheep.  They walk upright, appear to speak and reason at a level similar to the rest of us, and make amazing split second decisions.  But, sheep they must be if they require so many "leaders" from the coaching staff to veteran players just to get through a single game.

Irvin, whose reasoning ability didn't prevent him from showing up in court wearing a mink coat when on trial for cocaine possession, sees it like this.  "If I am in the line of battle and Tiki comes to me and says, 'Come on, give me what you have!' I'm going to look at him and say, 'Aww, shut up. What are you talking about? You are quitting on us.' This stuff will come out on the sideline."

Barber is not quitting on his team in mid-season.  He isn't even taking plays off, as some star players have done.  Set that aside.  What makes Irvin think what players say to each other during games really makes a difference? 

Imagine you are the center for the Giants.  You're up against a nose tackle who has 40 pounds on you.  He isn't just big, he's quick, he's mean, and he may be nuts.  Between plays he keeps carrying on these conversations that sound like Hanibal Letchter on steroids.  All night he's driven your neck back into your spinal column and moved around you like a Panzer division in 1939 going around French infantry.  In the middle of the pain and panic, Tiki looks at you and says 'Come on, give me what you have!"

My immediate reaction would be, "Bleep you, make some plays and get us off the field before this maniac kills me."  More likely, I'd just tune it out.  It's part of the background noise of the game.  Something your focus doesn't allow you to waste time on.  Like crowd noise, screaming coaches, or how the cheerleaders look.  Start paying attention to any of that and you're going to be tasting the turf on a regular basis.

Players yell stuff all the time.  Listen to any NFL films production and you'll hear every cliche in the book.  Usually the players yelling the most are not the sharpest tools in the shed.  I'm sure some of it sinks in, some of it sets a mood, but if it's non-stop for 3 hours (and it appears to be) what effect does any of it have?

Tiki Barber is a leader because of what he does on the field.  He is a leader because he can take an offense that is in a hole and get it out.  Barber can change attitudes and effort by results and by overcoming his opponents.  None of which has anything to do with Michael Irvin's understanding of leadership, and none of which is affected by his team knowing he plans to retire at the end of the season.

Football is a game of emotion and attitudes.  Coaches put alot of time and effort into communicating with players.  But I'm guessing the communication that deals with basic needs, like the need to remain employed, or the need to feel good about how you're playing, trumps the inspirational speeches hands down.  That's the communication that goes on in practice, not on the field. 

Even Michael Irvin was a leader.  Not when he was running his mouth like an outboard motor, but when he was making catches in traffic and changing momentum.  Take away that ability to make catches, take away the game changing plays, and nobody would have listened.  Just like nobody should be listening to him now.