Waters' Pain

Outstanding article by Phil Sheridan on Andre Waters’ death. I also suspected that perhaps the physical pain of post-NFL life may have been too much for Waters. Here’s Sheridan’s take with great points about the side of the nfl we don’t see after the player is gone and cheering subsides.

 

“I played because I loved it," he said. "I'm not looking for sympathy, because it's what I wanted to do. I just don't think people realize the players they cheer for wind up unable to walk or sleep because of pain."

 

What bothered him was that the sacrifice of his body didn't mean anything to the NFL the moment he couldn't play anymore. Jobs in scouting and coaching went to men who spent their 20s working a different career track and networking….

 

Maybe there were other reasons. Maybe something happened recently to drive Waters to suicide. Or maybe the pain - physical and emotional - palpable in his voice just kept getting worse. Probably, we'll never know.”