If you're searching for insight into Rob Gronkowski's method for coping with the New England Patriots Super Bowl loss, look no further than the date on his birth certificate.
As a fellow 22-year-old, I get it.
Students at my university were more likely to be found in a bar after failing an exam than in the library.
And that's not a testament to our intellect, skill level or motivation.
When you're 22, there's always a silver lining. Redemption is always around the corner.
Being young means playing the role of the underdog. Constantly.
Gronkowski is a newcomer in a league of champions.
He's looking to prove himself as an individual. He's motivated to show up the older guys. He wants to have some fun.
It's hard for people my age to live and die as a team when we're so wrapped up in our personal sagas.
We invest in our own fairy tale. The world owes us, and there is no limit to what we deserve.
And while that view is naive, it's also liberating.
Self-indulgence makes you invincible.
If you win, the good guy saved the day.
If you lose, you brush it off, bounce back. There's always next year, you can always get 'em next time.
In the wake of Super Bowl XLVI, Gronkowski charges on.
But with age comes the weight of wisdom, the shackles of experience.
By 2012 Brady knows that you get the ring by winning it, not by deserving it. In 2001, Brady had no clue.
By 2012 Brady has come to understand his own mortality, what it takes to win.
It's an epiphany that grounds you, but also damns you.
The ticking of the clock crescendos, and the pressure mounts.
But 2012 saw an unfettered Rob Gronkowski. He broke records. All-time, historical, National Football League records.
He got to the Super Bowl in the second season of his NFL career.
As an individual, Gronkowski had plenty to celebrate on Sunday night.
To be clear, he is not immune from the pain of the loss. But his age allows him to still see his own achievements in light of the team's failures.
So on Sunday night, Gronkowski did what anyone my age facing the biggest defeat of their life would do: he went out and partied.
And that's the most condemning side of youth.
In our egocentric daze, we neglect to realize what we owe to others. What Gronkowski owes to the New England Patriots.
And when you draft kids right out of college, slap them with a monster salary and thrust them into the spotlight, these are the blemishes that get exposed.
But don't get too down on No. 87. Gronkowski's partying incident is more a reflection of youth than of character.
In time, he'll learn. He'll hang his head, he'll hide beneath the towel.
But then someone else will be out dancing at a nightclub, shirtless, vibrant, young.
Vancouver Canucks Anaheim Ducks Dallas Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿