One speaks three languages. Another lost his mother when he was 8. One is the guardian to two younger brothers
Few football fans know and fewer care what the players are feeling from week to week. Should those feelings manifest in a crippling penalty or an assault on a Gatorade cooler or metastasize into an anthem protest, citing contemporary examples, athletes are loudly reminded to manage their thoughts in ways that do not impede victory and decorum.
“Just win baby,” was not just the imprimatur of the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis; it’s pretty much the implicit long-term contract between big time sports and its audience.