It was one of those things that was not explicitly stated, but both parties understood at the time what was happening: When Thomas Morstead and Chris Cordaro recently chatted on the phone, they were saying goodbye to each other.
The New Orleans Saints punter could sense how bad things were getting for Cordaro a few weeks ago, when he performed pull-ups for an hour at the Saints facility to raise money for a college fund for Cordaro's children. The toll taken by a three-year battle with cancer was evident.
"It was tough," Morstead said. "I'd seen Chris about three weeks ago, and then I saw him when we did the pull-up deal.