The strongest person in Nicolai Naess’s life requires a walker and wheelchair to make it through most days.
An autoimmune disorder weakens the legs of his mother and sometimes blurs her vision, but Britt Elin never complains about her fate and rarely allows her family to see the pain.
So on his first day of practice with Crew SC last month, the center back never took a break after a teammate rocketed a shot off his nose. The 23-year-old Norwegian kept defending without checking for blood or whether his beak was turned sideways like a Daffy Duck cartoon.