Athletes Lives Matter

"Being human is being a lot of things at the same time."
 - Matthias Schoenaer, Belgian Actor

Whether you are a celebrity, an actor in a sitcom, a musician, a professional athlete, or Joe Smith working in a factory, we all have one thing in common: we're human and we make mistakes. When it comes to athletes making millions of dollars to play a kids game, we tend to not care when they make a mistake or dehumanize their own condition. But, we all love a comeback story, don't we?

 Scott Darling is the backup goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. His path to success received attention after coming in after the first period of a recent playoff game, and saving close to 40 shots in a game that went to double-overtime and ending at 1:30 am. Scott is a local Chicago boy who had a battled alcoholism while in college. After getting kicked off the college hockey team he decided to make a life altering decision by going into rehab. Darling was an up-and-coming goalie who was destined for greatness. After beating his addiction he found his path to success a hard one, trying to convince people he was worthy of a shot at being a professional hockey player.

Scott Darling played on nine different minor league teams before finally getting a chance with a pro team in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. His decision to defeat alcoholism has paid dividends for him, not just on the ice, but in life itself.

Baseball player Josh Hamilton battled with drug addiction for many years. After some rehab he found Jesus, became an all-star with the Texas Rangers, and took them to their first World Series and another one after that. The Rangers organization had also placed people around him to help him in his struggle with drugs.

After being traded to the Anaheim Angels two years ago, Josh had a relapse in his drug addiction while in recovery from an injury. The Angels showed no remorse for Josh and his addiction and traded him back to the Texas Rangers before the start of this 2015 season.

 The Rangers wanted Josh Hamilton back not only for his talent, but to help him with his addiction.

I love those teams that place people and doctors in the lives of the players within their organization that struggle in certain areas of life. After all, even athletes are human.