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Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl defenders Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor this week traded in the luxuries of fame for the painful reality of life. Boy were they slapped hard.
Jason Taylor spent much of Thursday and Friday meeting U.S. heroes from Operation Iraqi Freedom.(AP)
They are far away from the Mercedes-lined parking lots of an NFL complex. An ocean apart from the comfort of the Dolphins facilities, miles from the cushy world celebrities live in.
They spent Friday morning neither watching film nor studying opposing offenses. Instead, they sat across from a young soldier who was fresh off a visit from the horrors of war, hanging on for his life in a military hospital in Germany.
"We just got done talking to one of our soldiers who was just flown in from the war in Iraq," said Thomas via cellular phone from Germany. "He's on life support because his Humvee hit a land mine. He can't talk, he's barely holding on, but when we saw him, he actually mouthed the words 'thank you' to us for visiting him.
"He's thanking us? He's the one who should be thanked. We play football for a living. That's all we do, we tackle people, big deal. When we mess up it used to seem like such a big deal. It would be in the papers and our coaches might say something. But if these people mess up, it can cost them their friends' lives. If I miss a tackle, there is always another play. If one of them misses something, there may not be a second chance. Lives are on the line."
Jason Taylor spent much of Thursday and Friday meeting U.S. heroes from Operation Iraqi Freedom.(AP)
They are far away from the Mercedes-lined parking lots of an NFL complex. An ocean apart from the comfort of the Dolphins facilities, miles from the cushy world celebrities live in.
They spent Friday morning neither watching film nor studying opposing offenses. Instead, they sat across from a young soldier who was fresh off a visit from the horrors of war, hanging on for his life in a military hospital in Germany.
"We just got done talking to one of our soldiers who was just flown in from the war in Iraq," said Thomas via cellular phone from Germany. "He's on life support because his Humvee hit a land mine. He can't talk, he's barely holding on, but when we saw him, he actually mouthed the words 'thank you' to us for visiting him.
"He's thanking us? He's the one who should be thanked. We play football for a living. That's all we do, we tackle people, big deal. When we mess up it used to seem like such a big deal. It would be in the papers and our coaches might say something. But if these people mess up, it can cost them their friends' lives. If I miss a tackle, there is always another play. If one of them misses something, there may not be a second chance. Lives are on the line."
Gotta luv the Dolphins!!!! 
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