Thank you for pulling back the curtain (further) on one of the most insidious tentacles of American capitalism. As a military veteran who's extremely fortunate to not be suffering from PTSD (at least as far as I know), I will NEVER bemoan anyone's decision to extricate themselves from a physically and/or mentally…

I’m a Chargers fan, and let's just say my fandom of football went down several stories and then some when my favorite player since childhood, the one who I had posters and jerseys of, killed himself.

I’ve watched the Lions for 30 years, probably. What resonates to me the most from your piece, Nate, is my memory of Mike Utley. And then after that, Reggie Brown and the halo he wore to his press conference. These, combined with Megatron and Barry walking away early with their bodies not completely wrecked, though…

“Becoming A Less Relevant Franchise Than Tennessee and Jacksonville: A How To Guide: by Dean Spanos.” Coming to a bookstore near you.

Everyone.  This is everyone.

This happens to me NOW.

I don’t think I’ll ever remember that the Chargers moved to LA. In a decade, I’ll see LAC on the ticker at the bottom of the screen and still think that the Clippers are playing the Broncos for some reason.

Watched a youtube video recently about how the Charges once missed the playoffs while having the #1 offense and #1 defense in the league. It was incredibly depressing.

“Some people are fans of the Los Angeles Chargers.”

If the Chargers can’t put a decent football team around him, then damnit, Philip Rivers is gonna make one.

It’s what made the clip of kuechly sobbing on the cart bring things into focus.  For once we didn't see someone stonefaced with a thumb in the air when his tendons were shredded.

I hate to say that I also think that it stems from the fact that very few fans out there ever really played football at a higher level than flag. If you’re out there and going full-stop you completely get what these players are saying. I haven’t played in years, but as a man in his early 30s I’m still feeling the pain…

Idea: Instead if team logos, all helmets from now on will feature pictures of the players face. 

I don’t think the pads and helmet and especially the guys who wear dark visors help people empathize, either. It makes the players look less human, or more robotic. They’re gigantic people made even more gigantic looking by the battle armor that they put on, and then they cover their faces and eyes. It takes the human…

Nate, your ability to take abstract concepts in an unfamiliar environment and make them tangible for a reader is impressive.  Only the worst imbeciles on the planet are going to think that your writing is overly dramatic here.  My experience with pain and mental anguish in football is right in line with you and I had…

What if I told you...

What if I told you that there’s a “sports guy” out there who used that phrase 617 times in a single year (2008)?

Most of them don’t even die that hard.  Heart disease is batting like .800 against them.  

I’ve never met a self-professed “lifelong diehard fan” of any team that wasn’t obnoxious.

When even Gronk is smart enough to retire, it’s hard to hold a grudge against Andrew Luck