Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Matt Bryant Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I'm glad I haven't had to learn how to deal with this kind of pain. The full article can be read here.

I've covered more than a dozen Super Bowls, written about college bowl games and chronicled the final Celtics game in the old Boston Garden. I've seen history, but forgotten most of it because I wasn't able to feel it.

I felt it Sunday as I watched Bryant on the field at Raymond James Stadium and, more importantly, listened to him in the media room after the Bucs defeated the Green Bay Packers. It was far from the best game I've ever seen, but it's easily the most memorable.

A day after burying his infant son, Matthew Tryson, Bryant went out and kicked three field goals, including the game-winner. Bryant then walked into the media room, looking dazed, and talked about how he played because he wanted to honor Tryson and admitted he had a running dialogue (in his head) with his son throughout the game.

You couldn't possibly sit in that room and not feel your heart coming apart. I went back upstairs and wrote my column. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it. But you don't just move on from something like this.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sad. I have yet to read why his son died. Have you?