Eric Davis: "Football Doesn't Love You Back."
Former 49ers cornerback Eric Davis is brilliant.
I didn't know this. He recently joined me during a live stream, and he said Russell Wilson is the modern version of Steve Young. And like a dope, I said of course, because they both love playing football so much.
Here's what Davis said in response. It's brilliant.
DAVIS: "That would be a question I would ask him -- how much fun did you have playing the game? We love the game, but football doesn't love you back. Football does not care about your love. Football cares about only two things: obligation and commitment. It cares that you're obligated to it and committed to it. That's all it cares about. It will never love you back.
"So sometimes you're not happy doing it, but you understand the obligation. And by obligation, I mean I am obligated to do my job to a level so that the other 10 guys standing next to me can do their jobs. They're not worried about me. They're not wasting energy. They're not in any way concerned with putting energy into making sure I'm doing what I have to do. I have to fill that obligation and understand that obligation. I owe that to those guys.
"And then commitment -- am I committed enough to put in the work that puts me in position to be consistent enough to stand up to that obligation. That's all football cares about. Football is not fun. You learn to like the grunt work. I loved the grunt work. I loved working on my craft. And everybody loves playing the games. No one retires because of 16 games. You retire because of those 40-something practices."
What a freaking answer. Thank you so much, Eric.
