A football player’s body is on a week-long timer. The damage he sustains in a game takes seven days to heal. On Sunday, when another game comes around, he’s finally ready to do it again — which is why playing on Thursday night presents challenges.
On a typical Monday morning, every bit of stiffness, bruising and swelling, which you did not feel the previous night because the adrenaline hadn’t died down yet, greets you when you wake up. You struggle to get out of bed, “North Dallas Forty” style, pull on sweats and go in to work to watch film, lift weights and run, hoping to flush the soreness from your body.