Pro Athletes Are People Too
June 29, 2017 at 3:44 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
The NBA Draft was last week and its free agency period is about to begin, hockey also held its draft last week just days after the new team in Las Vegas selected one player from each existing team in the league to fill their roster.
There also was a series of trades involving players on our regional teams. Jimmy Butler was traded by the Chicago Bulls to be reunited with former coach Tom Thibodeau. The Blackhawks traded rising star Artemi Panarin to Columbus, and solid veteran defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson to Arizona.
Paul George spent most of last week waiting to see if the Indiana Pacers could trade him as part of a draft-week trade to a contending team, which he all but sabotaged by telling the whole world he was leaving Indianapolis after next season no matter what.
The theme there is “player movement.”
When you are drafted, you understand that you will be packing up your stuff and moving on to the town that chose you. You probably aren’t married, just as likely to not have children yet and are still trying to figure out what your priorities are and who you are as a person.
But imagine that you are not that young. Suppose you are a guy who has been in your league 6 years and you have a wife and kids. You have a really nice home in a really nice neighborhood. Your kids attend the best school in town. You have set aside some of your money to create a foundation in your name, and its doing good work in that community.
And then your phone rings. It’s your agent. “I…what?” You were traded to a team who is a thousand miles away.
Ugh.
So you head off to your new town for media availabilities, and you leave the family behind to pack up their belongings and tie up the loose ends before joining you.
New house. New neighborhood. New school.
The baseball trade deadline is at the end of July. Players whose contracts are ending after the season for teams that are not in, or likely won’t make the playoffs, are often traded to contending teams who are looking for help as they make a push for the postseason. The trading team gets young players back in return rather than letting players leave in free agency for nothing.
So, imagine being THAT guy.
You leave your family within a few hours of hearing the news. You have time enough to go get some clothes, your glove and bats and other personal things you will need in the next few days. Then you hop a plane for the town where your new team is playing. It’s quite possible your team is on the road, so you won’t even be traveling to your new town.
New teammates. New coach. Your family left behind. They will stay there because it’s very likely you will sign with yet another team during the winter. So you will move your family … right in the middle of your kids’ school year.
I describe all of that to you to make a point: players are people too.
Yes, “player movement” is part of professional sports. Players get that, and their families know it’s possible. But that does not ease the burden of it.
You may also be saying “well with all the money they make, are you really expecting us to feel sorry for them?”
Yep, I am.
These people are different than you and I only by the fact that the father figure plays a sport for his job.
They buy groceries. They have kids who need help with homework, and who miss their dad when he is on a road trip for a week or longer at a time. They like to watch movies. They have doctor and dentist appointments, and so do their children.
So when you find yourself screaming at a guy who was batting .178 in June, when you are disgusted by a guy who seems like he couldn’t guard a dining room chair, when you see a defensive back beaten by a wide receiver over and over and over again … just remember that he’s a guy who wants the same things from life that you do. He wants to provide for his family, and he wants to enjoy what he does to make that happen.
Oh, and he has more people paying attention to and commenting on how he does his job than you do.
Think about it.
The NBA Draft was last week and its free agency period is about to begin, hockey also held its draft last week just days after the new team in Las Vegas selected one player from each existing team in the league to fill their roster.
There also was a series of trades involving players on our regional teams. Jimmy Butler was traded by the Chicago Bulls to be reunited with former coach Tom Thibodeau. The Blackhawks traded rising star Artemi Panarin to Columbus, and solid veteran defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson to Arizona.
Paul George spent most of last week waiting to see if the Indiana Pacers could trade him as part of a draft-week trade to a contending team, which he all but sabotaged by telling the whole world he was leaving Indianapolis after next season no matter what.
The theme there is “player movement.”
When you are drafted, you understand that you will be packing up your stuff and moving on to the town that chose you. You probably aren’t married, just as likely to not have children yet and are still trying to figure out what your priorities are and who you are as a person.
But imagine that you are not that young. Suppose you are a guy who has been in your league 6 years and you have a wife and kids. You have a really nice home in a really nice neighborhood. Your kids attend the best school in town. You have set aside some of your money to create a foundation in your name, and its doing good work in that community.
And then your phone rings. It’s your agent. “I…what?” You were traded to a team who is a thousand miles away.
Ugh.
So you head off to your new town for media availabilities, and you leave the family behind to pack up their belongings and tie up the loose ends before joining you.
New house. New neighborhood. New school.
The baseball trade deadline is at the end of July. Players whose contracts are ending after the season for teams that are not in, or likely won’t make the playoffs, are often traded to contending teams who are looking for help as they make a push for the postseason. The trading team gets young players back in return rather than letting players leave in free agency for nothing.
So, imagine being THAT guy.
You leave your family within a few hours of hearing the news. You have time enough to go get some clothes, your glove and bats and other personal things you will need in the next few days. Then you hop a plane for the town where your new team is playing. It’s quite possible your team is on the road, so you won’t even be traveling to your new town.
New teammates. New coach. Your family left behind. They will stay there because it’s very likely you will sign with yet another team during the winter. So you will move your family … right in the middle of your kids’ school year.
I describe all of that to you to make a point: players are people too.
Yes, “player movement” is part of professional sports. Players get that, and their families know it’s possible. But that does not ease the burden of it.
You may also be saying “well with all the money they make, are you really expecting us to feel sorry for them?”
Yep, I am.
These people are different than you and I only by the fact that the father figure plays a sport for his job.
They buy groceries. They have kids who need help with homework, and who miss their dad when he is on a road trip for a week or longer at a time. They like to watch movies. They have doctor and dentist appointments, and so do their children.
So when you find yourself screaming at a guy who was batting .178 in June, when you are disgusted by a guy who seems like he couldn’t guard a dining room chair, when you see a defensive back beaten by a wide receiver over and over and over again … just remember that he’s a guy who wants the same things from life that you do. He wants to provide for his family, and he wants to enjoy what he does to make that happen.
Oh, and he has more people paying attention to and commenting on how he does his job than you do.
Think about it.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092