Eat My Schwartz by Geoff Schwartz

Author:Geoff Schwartz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250089229
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

THIRD DOWN

8

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

Geoff

There are two things in every professional athlete’s life that are worse than losing.

Being injured and being released.

At the beginning of 2011, neither of these issues seemed like a looming threat. I was projected to be the starting right guard after successfully switching to that position for the last 11 games of 2010. I was feeling so great about my future that I decided to spring a surprise on Meridith. I convinced her to come to a baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to see the high school team I’d been working with. After the tournament, I suggested going to the beach, which Meridith loves. We were lying on our blanket having a great time when I made my move. I dropped to one knee—all those lineman drills finally came in handy for something other than blocking 270-pound headhunters—and I proposed to the gorgeous, sexy, compassionate, whip smart woman who had captured my heart.

I didn’t think most women would expect to be proposed to during a baseball-filled weekend, or on a beach blanket. So I totally surprised Meridith.

She said yes.

But while my personal life was riding high, the whole dynamic of the 2011 season felt a little off, a little abnormal from the very beginning of the year. For one thing, all the players spent most of the season training on our own because the NFL Players Association’s collective bargaining agreement with the league owners had expired. For another, the entire coaching staff of the Panthers had been overhauled, so I was coming into a team where the coaches didn’t know me and I didn’t know them.

During the lockout I was working with a trainer who noticed that I was shifting my weight during squat lifts and favoring one side over the other, which meant that I was losing strength on one side. I went to a physical therapist, we did drills and exercises, and I felt as if I was getting better, which was huge for me, because the last thing I wanted was to show up at camp and not be able to perform for new coaches.

The union finally signed the collective bargaining agreement a day before camp was scheduled to begin, which was a relief to everyone involved. On the first day of camp, I was excited to finally start the year. After going 2–14, I really wanted to get out there, work my game, and build toward a winning season. But I rolled out of bed and my back gave out. That had happened before once or twice, so I wasn’t too concerned. I got to training camp and I couldn’t really get loose. Over the next few days, I had some of the worst practices since I came into the league. My back was bothering me, and my hip was bothering me, too. Instead of impressing the new coaches, I actually got demoted from first string to second string. After all my hard work to become a starter, it was beyond depressing, and it was also alarming.

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