Critical Listening Is A Skill

Today’s blog is meant to be a direct rollout with your players. (And if I’m being honest…with you and your coaches first.)

Click on the image above of influencer Vic Mensa’s latest X post and go to the 42-second mark. Hit play. Sit and listen. Then watch it again — this time writing down notes about lines you hear that sound like TeamsOfMen material.

Then watch it one more time (three total now) and write down the lines that sit with YOUR SOUL. Discuss as a staff. When you’re done, rinse and repeat that exact flow with your team.

For me, I honed in on:

“We was all raised in a culture of abuse and misogyny…”

…and…

“Many of us adopted that willingly, wholeheartedly. But we don’t have to be stuck there. We can — we NEED to grow.”

If NOTHING else comes from this, at the very least, you’ve given your players a rep in critical listening and viewing. In 2026, they probably scroll past hundreds of mini speeches like this every week. It’s important we train their ears to identify not only symmetry with what someone is saying, but also places of pushback, tension, and disagreement.

Curiosity is a SUPER POWER after all.

Coach Prompts

• What line from the clip sounded most like something your program claims to believe?

• Where did you feel tension, disagreement, or discomfort while listening?

• Are you intentionally teaching players how to critically engage with content…or just hoping they will?

Player Prompts

• What line from the video stuck with you the most and why?

• What part of the message did you agree with? What part challenged you?

• What messages about men and relationships have you “adopted willingly” without ever really questioning?