A Book Of Eli (Part 6)
By Dave Thomas
May 16 2011
“You have no heart.” The words infuriate him still. “You have no heart,” a club coach said to him as he left the field at halftime in a reserve game as he tried to come back from injury and get back into the first team. This was the player who had won player of the season award and goal of the season award in ‘91/92. We’ll name the coach in the book.
| “You have no heart.” This was to Roger Eli, the guy who played in constant pain with his wrecked knee, got the swelling down with ice after every game, saw specialists out of his own money, and saw physios out of his own pocket. This was Roger Eli who never shirked a tackle, went in where it hurt, never gave less than 100%, was brave to the point of foolhardiness and gave as good as he got in every game. More than one game he played when he knew he shouldn’t. We talked about the bitterness that some players feel years after they leave the game. Roger feels no bitterness, but anger yes. A successful businessman, he can afford not to be bitter. There’s irony that eventual rejection as a footballer, eventual capitulation to injury, the path to the scrapheap if you like; then became a route to other success outside of the game. Everything happens for a reason you might say. To read the full article please click on the link below; |