People who run across him ask the same question of Kris Dielman, and the answer is yes, he misses football. Every single day, he misses playing, he said this week.
Even with how his NFL and Chargers career was ended — by a brain injury, seven years ago — it’s not surprising Dielman, 37, misses the sport, especially if you know the journey’s depths.
He grew up in an Ohio town that shut down on Friday nights so everyone could watch its high school team play. No matter how talented a player was, he didn’t play unless he lifted weights and ran sprints almost every day.