As a high school football coach, I dealt with a lot of injuries. Football is a series of collisions and people get hurt. The ability to play hurt is one of qualities that separates the good players from the poor players. Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane. Sexist, yes, but every coach has stories about the number of athletes who look great in the uniform yet you would be liable for manslaughter if you let them in a game.
Injuries happen to the good players, too.
As a teacher, I also asked them to write a one-page overview of what they watched all week. Pat, a sophomore quarterback, couldn t stop at one page. In fact, he couldn t stop talking about what he had seen during his short layoff. It is all so clear, Pat said. I see why you are always yelling push it and let s get going.