BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Gordon Hayward’s career as a newly minted Celtic was barely underway when the veteran forward crashed to the floor with a horrific ankle injury.
The next night, prior to the Celtics’ home opener, Hayward, speaking from his hospital bed, appeared on the Garden’s giant center-court flat screens and delivered a calming, upbeat message that had everyone cheering, or crying, or both.
This generally doesn’t happen in football. We are accustomed to the brutal, violent nature of the game. And the players, too, are accustomed to the brutal, violent nature of the game. They seem almost to revel in it.