re: How are NFL players able to memorize plays and recall them during games?

I never played football, so I don't know how extensive their playbooks are, but I did work at a sandwich shop in high school with some of the dumbest people on the planet.

And amazingly, they were able to memorize the menu and know everything that came on the multitude of sandwiches on the menu.

Every sandwich came with a different dressing, combination of vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc.

It just takes time and even morons can memorize stuff.