Drew Brees and Sean Payton share a hug after winning Super Bowl XLIV (Chuck Burton/AP).
In the last week (ish) of football, NFL players have reminded us, unintentionally, that football is just a game. A game that is slightly less serious than the Hunger Games.
In other words, life is more important, and mental and physical health are more important.
Does that mean that players shouldn’t care? Hardly. There has to be a high level of personal motivation and a desire to improve if someone wants to succeed in the NFL. However, if they’re anything like the rest of us, we are our own worst critics.
A disclaimer about this article is that cancer, mental health, and loss of life, both self-inflicted and not, are discussed in this article. If you don’t feel comfortable reading an article on these topics, look at some of my other articles here. Help is available; if you need someone to speak to, call 988 today.
Here are some reminders NFL players have provided for us:
NFL Buffalo Bills Damar Hamlin
Damar Hamlin is struggling emotionally after seeing Damien Harris get carted away. In the October 15th game at Bills Stadium, an ambulance had to come on the field and take Harris to the hospital.
Check on your friends. Players are the same as everyone else—they are affected emotionally by the things that happen around them. Even if it’s on the gridiron.
NFL New Orleans Saints Foster Moreau
We all saw the tragic moment when Foster Moreau missed the catch on Week 7’s Thursday Night Football. The catch that would have likely tied the game and sent the Saints and the Jaguars to overtime. And that’s not a given thing—the Saints kicker is a nightmare and could have missed the point.
Moreau was clearly upset, but a bystander might think he was not too upset when the ball literally slipped through his fingers.
Fans were furious. The adrenaline pumping through our blood was replaced with an overwhelming feeling of being let down. Lashing out at Moreau could be a response.
NFL QB Derek Carr Says What We Are All Thinking
Although if everyone else had been doing their job even half of the time, it wouldn’t have been so down to the wire. But that’s besides the point.
Derek Carr actually had the same thought, being quoted as saying:
“Our job as brothers and as family, as teammates, is to go really around him. I’ve been in that moment where you miss a throw and you throw a bad pick and something like that and you feel like everybody hates you. Our job as teammates … is to put your arm around them and keep them pushing. To see our teammates react that way shows we have a good group. Because I’ve seen in moments like that where everybody just starts pointing fingers. … I’ve never been a believer, just because it happens in that moment. There’s so many things we could’ve done that wouldn’t even put him in that situation.”
The Post-Game Moment
While the rest of the fourth quarter wound down, Foster was dejected, sitting on the sidelines with his helmeted head in his hands. Teammates rallied around him at that point.
Moreau was too dejected to move at the end of the game. He was still on the bench when most other players had already cleared.
Juwan Johnson had his friend’s back on one side. Alvin Kamara realized the guys were still near the benches and came to join Foster, supporting him on the other side. Such beautiful support.
His teammates remember when Foster Moreau was diagnosed with cancer in the off-season. They could have lost him as a teammate at any time. He is currently cancer-free, but his teammates remind him, and us as well, that life is sacred and this is absolutely just a game.
Fans on the sidelines, be quiet. You don’t know where people are in their lives at any given point. We’re all humans doing this life thing together.
A Little Soccer Addition
Norwich City Football Club had an emotionally compelling interview about the importance of reminding people they are not alone and reminding people to check in on the ones around them. Thank you, Norwich!
