‘It was the hardest week,” he said.
“And I came in, my wife had to go all the way to the back side of the facility and help get me out of the car. Her and our team trainer, literally arm-in-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder, carried me into the training room. And the look on [the players’] faces was like, Oh, s---, Coach is having trouble here. I mean, you can see they’re concerned. There’s genuine concern.”
Of course, that sucked while it happened, but afterward, Rivera said, “That was really kind of a cool thing, in terms of just knowing that these guys were really aware.”
Over time, that feeling was further cemented with unprompted well-wishes before chemo treatments and text messages after them, and players consistently checking in to make sure their boss was O.K. “It was cool how unselfish they were,” he said. And that showed up on the field, with the players taking on the traits of their coach in what they all hope was a foundation-setting season.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/02/01/mm...s-angeles-rams