Bryant's three month old son died Wednesday. He missed practice the rest of the week, and head coach Jon Gruden left the decision of playing today up to Bryant.
Playing a game of football usually is the last thing most people want to do after losing a son. Football is a mental sport, especially at the kicker position. Coaches will attempt to freeze kickers to get into their head before a kick. Bryant took the field in front of 65,000 and kicked a game winning field goal knowing he had just lost his son.
Not enough can be said about what Bryant did. He won't gain the publicity Brett Favre did after losing his father, but he surely deserves it. Losing a son is a difficult. Losing a son and going to work four days later is noble. Losing a son and kicking a game winning field goal, well I just don't have words to describe that.
Its hard to think of NFL players as real people sometimes. That they can feel the same pain we have. That their lives aren't picture perfect. Watching Bryant kick today, point to the sky after every field goal and hearing the support of 55 players alongside 65,000 fans was touching. It reminds us that a community can come together to support someone in need, and that sports are more than wins and losses.
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6 comments:
It's easy to "get lost" after loosing a loved one. We all grieve differently. Some shut down for long periods of time. I admire his ability to not only move forward, but to reach out to his support community. Even better, they responded with the support he needed!
Even if he had single handedly won the superbowl, there is really no way to change the death of a child into a "feel good story"...
its feel-good to see someone triumph despite the circumstances, and to see all the support...
maybe youd rather see "touching story"..?
Yeah, "touching" would seem more appropriate, in my opinion. Maybe "emotional," I'm not sure. I agree with what you're saying, it is a very powerful feat, I just don't think the good outways the bad enought to make it "feel good".
I am not sure that kicking a field goal the day after burying your son is anything but what it is. It was simply of field goal. To me it is no more noble than the person who grieves for his son in a more private manner. Consider the reaction of the home team if he missed the kicks, would it still be noble? The nobility came in the form of love for his child , not the fact that he kicked a field goal.
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