Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Albert Haynesworth: Letter to My Younger Self
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July 7, 2015 at 3:11 pm #27032
znModeratorLetter to My Younger Self
ALBERT HAYNESWORTH
CONTRIBUTORhttp://www.theplayerstribune.com/albert-haynesworth-letter-to-my-younger-self/
Dear 14-year-old Albert,
I know your knees hurt so bad right now that you can’t sit in the car for more than 20 minutes at a time, but don’t freak out about it — it’s just growing pains. What did you think was going to happen drinking two gallons of whole milk a week? You start high school this fall, and you’re just going to keep getting bigger. You’re going to grow five inches over the summer and when you show up for track practice on the first day of school, all your buddies are going to look at you like, “Dude, you got tall.”
You’re going to grow to 6’6”, an inch taller than your hero Reggie White. And like him, you are going to be an athletic monster. During a playoff game your junior season, you’re going to run down the field on punt coverage and stick out your arm to wrap-tackle the returner, only you’re going to clothesline him with so much force that he wraps around your arm and does a backflip. The crowd is going to react like it’s pro wrestling. Don’t worry, the kid will be okay. This is going to be your first experience of playing with so much adrenaline that you’re straddling the edge. It will feel like an insane kind of control. You need to learn how to reign this in. More on that later.
In the state championship game, you’re going to rack up 15 tackles as a defensive tackle. Colleges will start recruiting you hard after that, and things are going to start happening very fast. Remember that you’re just a kid from a town of 4,000 in Hartsville, South Carolina. Because when you get to the University of Tennessee, you’re going to feel like a very small fish in a very big pond. This feeling won’t last, but it’s going to feel that way for a while. You’re going to have some very lonely moments.
During your freshman year, Coach Fulmer will introduce you to a psychologist who will become one of your best friends. He’ll listen to your problems when you’re struggling. You’ll go tubing and water skiing on his boat and hang out with him all throughout college. He will come to your house and meet your mom. I know this sounds crazy, Albert. But do not trust this man. As soon as you decide to declare for the NFL Draft, he will say, “You know, I do some investing on the side. I’ve been helping other guys out for years. You should let me handle your money.”
You’ve heard the horror stories about guys buying a fleet of Rolls Royces and gold chains and going broke. You’re not an idiot. You know you should invest your money, and this guy is showing you a business card that says “Morgan Stanley” and a multi-million dollar portfolio. I know he seems trustworthy. I know he seems smart. But if you let your friend handle your finances, he’s going to take millions from you.
Are you paying attention now?
Remember when you were 8 years old, watching an NFL game with your mom, and you turned to her and said, “That’s what I’m going to do some day”? Well, it’s going to be a lot more complicated than just a simple game. When you get drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the 2002 Draft, you’re going to come into camp thinking you got this. Sure, you only benched as much as some of the safeties at the combine, but you can run. You have that short-burst playing power.
You’re going to be a better athlete than 85 percent of the offensive linemen you’re up against. You’re going to run over guys in practice. But for some reason, when Sunday comes around, they’re going to do just enough to stop you. Because they have the brains. Year by year, you’re going to figure this out and start picking up little tricks.
In 2006, everything is going to change, for better or worse. By now, you will fully understand that to survive in an NFL game, you have to work yourself up into a kind of insanity. This is what it takes. Before games, your coaches will essentially pimp you out. They’re going to use humiliation and fear as a means to make you play as hard as humanly possible.
One of them will literally show you a scene from the movie Deliverance during a mid-week meeting in order to demonstrate just how badly the opponent is going to own you. You will love this, in a way. It will make you go absolutely nuts. The NFL culture will brainwash you into a certain mentality: “My opponent is trying to take food out on my mouth, and I want to embarrass him in front of his family. It disgusts me to be on the same field as him.”
You will approach games as war. I don’t mean that as a cliche. There will be many times where you feel like your opponent is trying to steal your entire life. In October 2006, you’ll be playing against the Dallas Cowboys, rushing against the guard like you have thousands of times before, when you get your knee clipped from behind. You’ll get up, furious, and see that it’s the center, Andre Gurode, who hit you. This is an unspoken rule among lineman. You don’t do it. But maybe it was an accident. You say, “What the hell was that? You ain’t man enough to block me straight up?”
“Nah,” he’ll say, “I’m trying to put your ass out.”
This will be one of the most significant moments of your life. You will go the sideline, and your vision will be red. You will be madder than you’ve ever been in your entire life. A switch will get flipped. You will not be able to control the monster, and you’ll step way over the line for the first time. I know this will seem impossible to you — but you will stomp on Andre’s head, cutting him above his eye and causing him to get 30 stitches.
After that moment, you will never be looked at the same way again. And the complicated thing is, this is going to help you on the football field. Even as the media and the league is vilifying you, the irony is that this mistake will put you on the radar of everybody in the NFL. Guys will think you’re crazy. When you return from suspension and you play against the Eagles, an offensive lineman’s helmet will come off at the end of a play, and he will look at you scared shitless, like, “Hey Albert, you OK? Just relax.”
Guys will be terrified of you. They’ll shy away from your side of the field. And that’s where things are going to get really murky. On one hand, people expect you to flip a switch and be a killer when you’re on the field, and on the other hand, they expect you to be able to instantly switch it off when it’s over. Should you embrace the bad guy? Is that who you want to be, even if it means success in the short-term? I still don’t know if I have the answer for you, Albert. What I know is that you’ll make back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2007 and 2008, and you’ll start to believe that you’re unstoppable. That you can do anything. That’s when you’re going to do something really dumb.
If nothing else, listen to me on this, Albert: Do not leave the Tennessee Titans. Your defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is a mastermind. No matter how much I tell you this, you’ll probably never realize it until your career is over, but it’s true. You’re like a system quarterback. You thrive in a very specific scheme. When you hit free agency, the Washington Redskins are going to offer you $100 million. Everyone will talk about this (they won’t talk about the fact that most of that money is not guaranteed, or that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offered you $135 million). The $100 million will become a huge burden. Take less and stay in Tennessee where you belong.
Oh, when you get on that first phone call with Dan Snyder and the organization in Washington, it’ll be all good. “We want you to play just like you did in Tennessee, Albert. We’re going to let you loose and destroy the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles. That’s your job.”
Then during your first OTA, you’re going to be introduced to a different brand of football. I can already see you rolling your damn eyes. How can football be different? I’m a defensive lineman. Well, football in Washington versus football in Tennessee was like the difference between a general physician and a cardiologist. Both doctors. One is just a little more sophisticated.
People are going to be all over you for your contract, and you’re going to feel really frustrated. You’re going to do some dumb things. But what people aren’t going to see is Mike Shanahan calling you into his office and saying, “Albert, we just want you to eat up space. All we want you to do is grab the center and let the linebackers run free.”
You’re going to look at this famous NFL head coach in total disbelief and say, “You want to pay me $100 million to grab the center?”
And he’s going to say, with a straight face, “Albert, if you have more than one sack this season, I’m going to be pissed.”
The last thing you’ll say before walking out of the office is, “Can’t you just pay someone $300,000 a year to do that?”
You will lose your passion for football in Washington, and it will be impossible to get back. In retirement, you will discover that your financial advisor has squandered most of the money you made with the Redskins, and he will be under investigation for financial fraud. Thankfully, you will have discovered a passion for restoring houses and buying property during your offseasons. You’ll even open up a BurgerFi restaurant in Knoxville (I know you love burgers). Instead of being on the beach in the Bahamas, like most people probably think you are, you will be hanging drywall in a condo in South Carolina. And you know what? That will make you extremely happy.
You are just a kid from a town of 4,000, and you made it out like your hero Reggie White. You did what you told mamma you were going to do. The same traits that got you to the NFL are the same traits that got you into trouble. You have to live with that. I am proud of what you’ve accomplished.
Remember to enjoy it a little bit,
Albert
July 7, 2015 at 3:55 pm #27033
wvParticipantNow ‘that’ was a good read.
w
vJuly 7, 2015 at 5:21 pm #27037
bnwBlockedAiring his dirty laundry.
The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.
Sprinkles are for winners.
July 7, 2015 at 8:54 pm #27048
NERamParticipantI liked reading it. Certain portions made me think of when I played as a youngster. Not comparing myself to him at all, just the good times vs. bad times.
Saturdays were game days. The entire team was upbeat, coaches weren’t screaming at you, there was electricity in the air, everybody had on clean and sharp looking “game” uniforms, there were cheerleaders, spectators… all was good. And that was only a 3 hour blip. And that was it. 3 hours a week.
And then it was back to the practice field. Mondays weren’t too bad, watched film and had a light practice. Fridays were OK also, just walk-throughs. But, Tues., Wed., and Thurs were hell.
No clean uniforms, just the old beat up practice uniforms that stunk cause nobody ever washed them. Coaches had a different mindset, no more uplifting; screaming and berating was the preferred language. There was no lush green grass to play on, instead was the hot old, dusty practice field. One coach actually stopped practice one time to make us look at a bottled water truck driving by, just to remind us how dry and thirsty we were. Another time he made all of us go over to a water faucet, and then he turned it on just enough so that a drop formed every 10-20 seconds. And then he told us to get down on our hands and knees to sniff the water. We couldn’t drink any, we could only smell it. Anyone who moistened their tongue would run laps.
That was the 95% part. The 5% was the good times, the game day, the fun.
I dunno, when I read stuff like this article, I think that we sometimes get so focused on the 5% part of NFL (game days) that we tend to not think so much of the 95% (behind the scenes developments. Business side, contracts, agents, politics).
Ennyway, yeah, I did like the article. Always interesting to me to read what happens, not on game days.
July 7, 2015 at 9:31 pm #27049wvParticipantAnother time he made all of us go over to a water faucet, and then he turned it on just enough so that a drop formed every 10-20 seconds. And then he told us to get down on our hands and knees to sniff the water. We couldn’t drink any, we could only smell it. Anyone who moistened their tongue would run laps.
The ignorance about hydration back then, makes me cringe.
Football is tough enough without the gordon liddy crap.w
vJuly 7, 2015 at 9:39 pm #27051znModeratorThe ignorance about hydration back then, makes me cringe.
Football is tough enough without the gordon liddy crap.—
This article is not a “commentary.” I am just noting the irony.—
Did Prep Football Player Hydrate Himself to Death?
August 2014
The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionhttp://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/did-prep-football-player-hydrate-himself-to-death.html
The death of a Douglas County High School student who was hospitalized after a football practice has educators and athletic officials exploring additional safety measures for student athletes.
While the rare phenomenon of student athletes’ sudden deaths is not new, the case of 17-year-old Zyrees Oliver has started a new conversation. Until now, officials worried about youths not getting enough liquids. Family members of Oliver think he might have drunk too much water and other fluids after practice Aug. 5.
The cause of his death has not been officially determined, but the family reported he drank two gallons of water and two gallons of Gatorade before he collapsed. Oliver died early Monday after being removed from a ventilator.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has completed an autopsy, but it is waiting on additional lab results to determine the cause of death. Those results may take at least two weeks, GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang said.
A family member reached Wednesday did not want to comment on the student’s death and referred The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to an attorney from the law firm Morgan & Morgan. The attorney did not return a telephone call for comment.
While Oliver’s principal and other officials are cautious in concluding his death was caused by overhydrating, “It’s certainly something that everybody needs to be aware of,” Douglas County High principal Tim Scott said.
Mike Emery, athletic director in Gwinnett County, which had 14,699 student-athletes last school year, said the district would have discussions with coaches and other officials at their next training session Sept. 6 about the dangers of overhydrating.
“If anything good can come out of this, it’s a discussion about the overconsumption of fluids,” Emery said.
Oliver may have suffered from hypervolemic hyponatremia, which is depleted sodium levels in the blood caused by fluid overload, said Robert Huggins, director of elite athlete health and performance at the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut.
Sodium depletion affects the body’s electrolytes and can lead to dangerous health problems, including seizures and brain damage.
Overhydrating is among the top 10 causes of sudden death among athletes, Huggins said. The Stringer Institute is named after a former NFL player who died in 2001 from heat stroke. Overhydrating occurs more typically with marathon runners and triathletes when they are drinking at every rest stop, not football players.
The Georgia High School Association has set guidelines for coaches to restrict activities when the temperature is 82 degrees or hotter. The guidelines prescribe at least three rest breaks per hour, for example, and limit the equipment players can wear when temperatures reach toward the 90s.
RELATED: Protecting Athletes From Heat-Related Illnesses
GHSA executive director Gary Phillips said his group will also take a look into Oliver’s death to determine if anything in this case should lead to additional safety measures.
Oliver had medical issues in recent months, including cramping, dehydration and migraines, his family said in prior interviews. But Scott, the Douglas County High principal, said Tuesday that Oliver was “absolutely” cleared to practice and play.
Some school districts, such as Gwinnett, have trainers at every high school who assist coaches and guide students’ conditioning.
A recent survey of all 18,000 high schools nationwide found about 70 percent of high schools have access to athletic trainers, Huggins said. Thirty-seven percent of schools have a full-time trainer, and 31 percent have a part-time trainer, he said.
In Georgia, Huggins said 79 percent of the high schools that responded to the survey said they have access to a trainer. Smith said his school has a trainer, but he was unsure if the trainer attends all practices.
Phillips said his organization has had discussions with state lawmakers in recent years about having trainers in all Georgia high schools. The problem, he said, is trainers are funded by school districts and some rural districts cannot afford it.
“How do you pay for it?” he said.
Oliver had a 3.8 grade point average and dreamed of playing college football.
His family is trying to raise money to return him to his home state of New Jersey for burial. A fundraising page was started on the social media site GoFundMe. Oliver’s classmates are raising money at school.
“He was an excellent student and a great young man,” Scott said.
Athletes and hydration
Robert Huggins, director of elite athlete health and performance at the Korey Stringer Institute, offered some tips for coaches and trainers to monitor athletes during practices and games.
* Weigh athletes before and after practice to help create individual hydration plans.
* Consider sending athletes with “high sweat rates” or “salty sweaters” to a lab for sweat electrolyte tests, especially if they cramp frequently.
* Monitor the temperature during an athletic event or practice.
* Hire an athletic trainer to prevent, recognize and treat heat- and hydration-related illnesses.
Warm weather practices
Georgia has guidelines for practices and games if the temperature reaches certain levels. They include:
* At 87 degrees, the maximum practice time is two hours, and players are restricted to wearing helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. All conditioning must be done with all protective equipment removed. This year a stipulation was added allowing players to continue practicing in their football pants if the temperature hits 87 during the workout.
* At 90, the maximum practice time is one hour with no protective equipment worn during the workout. No conditioning activities are allowed.
* At 92, no outdoor activity is allowed until the temperature falls below 92.
Source: Georgia High School Association
July 7, 2015 at 11:47 pm #27058NERamParticipantThe ignorance about hydration back then, makes me cringe.
Football is tough enough without the gordon liddy crap.w
vIt was rough at times, fer sure, WV.
Saw guys pass out, one guy experienced temporary blindness. All because they wanted to toughen us up.
ZN, interesting read. I still recall going in after practice, and standing at the water fountain and literally gulping cold water for what seemed like several minutes. We were that thirsty. But that student that died, 4 gallons of liquid? Wow.
Good to see the State guidelines on controlling practice and equipment based upon temperature increases.
July 8, 2015 at 12:23 am #27061
InvaderRamModeratorthat was a very good read.
albert is the very definition of a physical freak. that gets tossed around too often. but he really was.
but all the other stuff outside of the game. you know it goes on. but to hear it first hand is a trip.
July 8, 2015 at 12:37 am #27064
MackeyserModeratorwhat’s amazing is that he had 2 gallons of gatorade which has electrolytes in it.
When I was 16, I was doing this one job on Saturdays that was such hard work that even the day laborers wouldn’t do it. A guy who owned a house in Malibu confided in a friend of mine that the world was coming to an end and he wanted to build a bomb shelter.
Well… his house in Malibu is built on clay. Ever tried to manually dig clay? That mess is ridiculously hard and because we were under the house in late spring, it was like doing it in a hot house. We’d be soaked in sweat in minutes.
The answer? salt tablets. You HAD TO. At first, it seemed crazy, but after a quick chew and swallow, I’d feel tons better. And yeah, we’d each probably go through several gallons of water per 4 hour dig session. EASY.
I used to ride endurance rides on my bike at the time and going for a 60+ mile ride on a Saturday if I could get the time off was a pretty usual thing for me. But I never, ever sweat like I did under that house.
Well, until I started rolling BJJ. But even then, due to the heat, it’s probably the most and fastest I’ve ever sweat in my life. My clothes would be just crusted with salty sweat.
Definitely what’s missing are the basics of RE-hydration and just using water or gatorade isn’t it. Gatorade was fine for replenishing lost electrolytes and sugars during the game in conjunction with water, but once significant water and electrolyte depletion has occurred, there’s a proper way for a person to rehydrate so as not to put themselves into jeopardy.
The article did touch on that. What it didn’t say is that sometimes a person feels thirsty when they really are mineral depleted, so they drink water when they need the salts and they actually make the problem worse, especially if they drink bottled water.
Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.
July 8, 2015 at 12:58 am #27066znModerator. Ever tried to manually dig clay?
Just as a side-note, yes, once. When my family built a cabin in western ontario—a place about which there are many stories—we had to install the sewage tank ourselves. Bear in mind, to get to the cabin, you drove 20 miles up a gravel/dirt logging road, went off the road on a kind of car trail where you could park, then walked the rest of the way (1/4 a mile?) on a path to the cabin. All heavy stuff like the sewage tank was delivered by boat on the lake. We had to get the tank into the ground, and had to do it ourselves. I was a teen. Anyway we dug straight down to make a hole deep and long enough, and, after a few inches, it was all clay. When we got to the proper depth, you needed a step ladder to get out of the hole. That meant you had to dig, then raise the shovel over your head, and a younger brother would scrape the clay off the shovel. That’s not like being under a house—we were under air and trees. So it was nothing like your experience, except for just digging in clay. And yeah there was nothing easy about it.
This is the lake in question btw…a recent pic in fact, of my brother on the lake with one of his sons last summer I think. Next picture is a view of the lake from the shore in front of the cabin.
July 8, 2015 at 11:43 am #27073bnwBlockedKid drank too much liquid too fast.
The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.
Sprinkles are for winners.
July 8, 2015 at 2:16 pm #27079znModeratorBack on topic…to me, Haynesworth sounds both like he actually changed, AND like he is making excuses for some of his actions.
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