Washington Post: Playing With Pain

[MTK]

Shawn Springs was suffocating. His father was in a coma in Texas. His stepmother had had cancer diagnosed. He and his wife had separated, their 1-year-old son leaving with her. So he backpedaled. He stopped answering most phone calls and for a few months he left home rarely unless it was for a workout. At his most despondent, the cornerback considered retiring from the Washington Redskins, walking away from $5 million this season, and maybe becoming a teacher or buying land and building a house near his family in Dallas.

Link: washingtonpost.com