SliCeR Posted December 26, 2020 Posted December 26, 2020 Washington’s Alex Smith (top left) and Ron Rivera (top right) displayed incredible perseverence, with Smith battling back to the field from a horrifying knee injury and Rivera coaching through a cancer diagnosis. Meanwhile, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (bottom left) won a championship and cemented himself as one of the most talented players in the history of football, and Lakers superstar LeBron James added his fourth title, while being a vocal leader amid social and racial unrest throughout America. ave you thought at all how you’ll explain 2020 to someone who didn’t live it? Seriously, imagine in 18 years trying to teach high school students how we were divided over mask wearing, mourned hundreds of thousands of deaths, feared sickness, were broken hearted over lost jobs and businesses, and celebrated finding toilet paper. On a lesser, and lighter, note, imagine trying to explain 2020 in sports to a fan in two decades? It was the year that the NBA title was won at Disney World, MLB only played 60 games, the Masters happened in November and there was a team called “The Football Team.” We played a NFL game on a Wednesday afternoon, teams played entire seasons with no fans in the stands, and Notre Dame football played in the ACC. This sports year came off more drunk than Foster Brooks. Kids, Google him. He was really funny. It’s a year where we lost the NCAA tournament, missed summer days at The Diamond, the chance to go to see our favorite teams, and said farewell to legends like Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Al Kaline, Don Shula, and, it still breaks my heart to type, Kobe Bryant. Yet even in this storm of 2020 there were rays of light from those who inspired and fascinated us. There has been many a moment over the past 20 years that fans of Washington football have felt ashamed to pull for their team; however Alex Smith and Ron Rivera helped restore some pride and inspired courage to many in and outside this fan base. Of all the sports movies written, never has there been a script with a quarterback returning to the field after 17 surgeries to save his leg and life and then being inserted back into the starter’s role, going 4-1 and helping a team in a playoff race led by a new coach who is publicly fighting cancer while on the sidelines. Patrick Mahomes continued his meteoric rise in the NFL, adding the Lombardi to his trophy case in February, and was awarded with the league’s largest contract ever, which he celebrated by proposing to his girlfriend, who is expecting the couple’s first child. While preparing to win another Super Bowl, the Chiefs quarterback helped pick up the tab for Arrowhead Stadium to become a polling location, encouraging others to vote as well as sharing his story that he would be a first-time voter in 2020. At the same time, his teammate Laurent Duvernay-Tardif put his football career on hold, becoming the first NFL player to opt out for the season so he could use his medical background to help care for COVID-19 patients in his home country of Canada. The Chiefs guard wasn’t the only NFL star who helped save lives. In a year that tried our mental health like never before, Atlanta Falcons tight end Hayden Hurst showed incredible strength in opening up about his own depression and attempted suicide in 2016. Hurst has dedicated his platform to being open about anxiety and depression and his commitment to encourage others to ask for help. The men weren’t the only ones to fascinate us on the gridiron. Some chauvinists and cynics have called Sarah Fuller kicking for Vanderbilt’s football team a publicity stunt. Believe that if you want, but understand what Fuller did was far more than putting on a helmet and kicking a football down the field. The Commodores goalkeeper inspired young girls across the country to not be afraid to try something new or take on a challenge even if it’s something people have always said women can’t do or have never before done. This hit home the morning after Fuller’s debut watching my 3-year old daughter view Fuller’s highlights while I was fixing her breakfast. She said, “Daddy, that’s a girl kicking a football. I can kick a football, too!” Yes you can, London. Yes you can. The SEC and Power 5 in college football weren’t the only area of sports where a woman broke new ground. Kim Ng, has been a baseball asset for over three decades serving as assistant general manager for the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, composing teams that have reached the playoffs eight times and won three World Series. Now, Ng will get the chance to make a run at a fourth ring as baseball’s first female general manager taking over the Miami Marlins. Amazingly, in 2020 we were fascinated again by a player who hasn’t laced up his sneakers for a game in over 20 years: Michael Jordan. The much anticipated release of “The Last Dance” introduced a new generation to the greatness that was “His Airness.” We got to hear the stories of Jordan’s Bulls career, their six championship run, his multiple departures from the game, and his relationship with teammates and the late Jerry Krause. Much of it was through Jordan’s words, which gave him the final say on everything. Not a surprise since he was involved behind the scenes, but the 10-hour documentary gave us a gathering place for five Sundays while many sports remained on hiatus during the pandemic. Then, it was fitting that in a year Jordan found himself again in the highlights, LeBron James found a way to elevate his stature among the greats of the game by leading a third franchise to a NBA title when he took the Los Angeles Lakers to their 17th championship. While earning All-NBA First Team honors for the 13th time and finishing second in the MVP voting, James developed “More Than A Vote,” which helped recruit election workers and encouraged sports arenas and stadiums to transform into polling places. Perhaps the most fascinating people in sports were the ones whose names we aren’t aware of — all the doctors, athletic trainers, epidemiologists, medical personnel, and team managers who consulted with commissioners, presidents, owners and athletes to take the possibility of returning to games in a pandemic and make it a reality. In a year that felt hopeless and endless, there were those in sports who did inspire us and at times, perhaps moved us to pick ourselves up and move forward. Cheers to 2021.
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