1. Ego is like a wild roller coaster.  Every play becomes a statement of a player's identity, and that generates huge amounts of stress.
2. Ego chatter in your head is like the worst father or coach you've ever experienced -- extremely negative, critical, over-generalized and unhelpful.
3. Ego chatter is just that -- chatter...thoughts.  They are not real. 
4. To minimize the effects of ego, observe the ego just as if you were a scientist observing an experiment.  Taking a step back from your thoughts, not buying into them.  This helps to bring back realism.
5. Conduct team building exercises to place the emphasis on the team and not the individual.

We're all ego-maniacs.  We're all ego-maniacs in that ego is often the driving force of our actions and reactions.  Many of us will say we play sports for the love of the game, but in reality, we play to protect and strengthen our own egos.  That dynamic will limit your performance.  Minimize the role of ego, and you will play better, which ironically is what ego wanted in the first place.

How do you know if you're playing for ego?  Look at your actions.  Are you playing for the love of the game, the love of your teammates, the beauty of athletisicm, or do you have a secondary agenda to look good and build your image?  Does you self-worth depend on your performance, on your role as playmaker, hero, conquerer?  Or...is there no secondary agenda?  You are in the zone of the situation and you are just playing.  

 When you play with ego, you increase your stress.  Every play, every point, and every mistake is a statement of your identity.  There are times you will shine and your ego will expand, but for the most part, you live in fear -- fear of missing the shot, dropping the pass, of letting down yourself and your teammates.  Ego lives off of comparison, and it is often a harsh critic.  Ego is a roller coaster of hope and fear, and it's not a very fun ride.  

Ego lives off of concepts and thoughts.  "I''m smart, but too slow."  "I stink at 3 point shots."  "I can't break a minute 30."  "I'm the world's best, but this person wants to knock me off."  These are just thoughts, and they are not real.  Some of these are concepts that put you in different buckets, and they are all too simplified.  Ego needs positive thoughts and concept to survive.

Ego is defensive and critical.  If your coach has a recommendation for you, do you notice that your mind rushes to defend, attack, justify, or blame?  That is ego.  A non-egoic response -- listen and ponder.  Is there any merit to what coach is saying?  You as the principle witness would know which rings true, and which statements might be a result of the coach's own ego-centric thinking.

Instead of engaging in positive self-talk, how about no tallk at all.  The way to deflate ego is just to observe it, like a scientist looking at an experiment.  When you think something like "I'm good at this, but not at that," you don't have to believe it.  Instead, just label it 'thinking' and observe how it tried to warp your mind.  You'll soon see that your thoughts are not as sophisticated and real as you once thought, but are more like a 5 year old child having a temper tantrum.  

If you need to analyze your performance, stick to the facts.  Don't say to yourself "I'm awful at open-field tackling."  Say "I missed the last tackle."  The first statement is an opinion, the second one is fact.  Stay with the facts, because the ego is a master at deception and distortion when it comes to opinion.

Awareness of ego and your thought process is the secret to controlling ego and playing better.

There are tons of egomaniacs on the field, people that want to relish in your demise.  Even if you get your own ego in check, their comments and actions might bait you.  It's like offering an alcoholic a drink. 

Our first reaction is to fight back, to defend ourselves.  However, in my game of football, that will usually give your team a personal foul and 15 yards in the wrong direction.  We all know that the refs never catch the initial act, but the retaliation, and when you retaliate, thats what gets flagged.  So what's might be good for you is usually not good for the team.

Our second reaction might be to dismiss the other person.  You might say, "That guy is a loser anyway.  He can talk a lot on the field, but he's ugly, penniless, and alone."  That will come as a good rationalization to you, but it still builds your ego up at the expense of the other person, and thus, they end up being successful in getting you off the ego wagon.

Try this.  Honestly in your mind and your heart wish the person well.  Hope that he can avoid suffering and confusion.  Hope that he or she can make the journey you are on, but don't with this is a 'you take pity on them' way, but do it in a meaningful way.  You'll be surprised how much that deflates the meaning of the other person's taunting comments, and in the end, those comments are only air coming through the vocal chords.  They have no more meaning then that...unless you give them meaning.  They're literally just air.

You are the principle witness to your play.  You are in the best position to judge your own abilities and performance.  Your perspective matters most, not some opposing team member.