Good thesis Wrighty, give this man his PhD.
My own theory is that the game revolves around the no. 7. To use a chess analogy, the halfback is the chess player who sees the whole board if he's any good, everyone else is pieces for him to move around and manipulate as he sees fit. The ability to visualise the board and think multiple moves ahead is what separates the elite 7's from the mediocre and average 7's, and that only happens with time and maturity. TMM seems to have that gift.
Joey Johns said at his peak it seemed like he was levitating above the field and looking down on it so he saw each move nefore it happened, but he's bipolar, that's a rare gift all the immortals have.