“One of the reasons we connect so intimately with talented athletes whose careers are cut short by injuries is that they remind us of ourselves. We think: That player would have been great…Just like me if my job hadn’t been downsized, my spouse hadn’t left, I hadn’t quit school to take care of my parents, etc. We allow ourselves to romanticize the best-case scenario even though, for all we know, that player may have already peaked. The dream is better this way and we stay there, freezing those moments in time.” - Khalid Salaam