There's no crying in Football

A story came out that the Michigan football program had broken NCAA rules by overworking players in the off-season. This prompted coach Rich Rodriguez to make a fool of himself and hold a press conference where he broke down weeping like Ed Norton in American History X. Clearly the only thing that Rich is guilty of is loving his players too much, that and major rules violations, also not being a good football coach.

Guys don't like to see their girlfriends or their moms cry, and we definitely do not like to see the head coach of our favorite football team crying. We want to see our football coaches yelling that the "Bears are exactly who we thought they were" and screaming their census information "I'm a man, I'm 40". We don't want to see Rich sniffling and telling weepy stories. If I want to see a grown man cry I'll go watch Old Yeller with my dad. It's so sad.

I feel like we see players and coaches crying all the time in interviews these days. The other day Bill Belichick got choked up when Tedy Bruschi retired, T.O. cried when people criticized his quarterback. Brett Farve sobs whenever he has a retirement press conference. It feels so contrived, these people are choosing to cry in public situations in the hopes of manipulating the public. How often did Vince Lombardi or Ted Williams cry in front of the press? I'm guessing never. Lou Gerhig kept a stiff upper lip when he announced that he was retiring due to a crippling disease, and it is one of the most emotionally powerful speeches ever. Today's players and coaches should take a cue from Old Iron Horse Gerhig and man up.