(ThyBlackMan.com) Like most years, it has been an interesting NFL Playoffs thus far leading up to Super Bowl LV. One of the surprising teams during the NFL Playoffs was the Los Angeles Rams, who upset their divisional rival, the Seattle Seahawks during the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Rams were eliminated from the playoffs by the Green Bay Packers but one of the stories out of the game was about Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald. Donald, one of the most decorated players in the NFL, didn’t have a productive game with just one tackle but it’s understandable as he was playing with a rib injury. The bigger story around Donald was that he was captured on video crying on the sidelines as the game started to conclude with the Rams losing. While many times in society and pop culture, men crying is viewed as comedic, Aaron Donald’s tears were characterized as “indicative of a player who gave everything he had” and that he “left it all on the field”. His emotions were not viewed as “weak” or made light of because of the player and person he is.
Playing in the “trenches” in the NFL is one of the most physically demanding careers in America. Large men on the offensive and defensive lines, who are mostly over 300 pounds, line up across from each other and run into each other multiple times in combat over a 60-minute NFL game. Aaron Donald has been a force for most of his career in the “trenches” since entering the NFL in 2014 as he has collected five All-Pro nominations, an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, and two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. Despite being smaller than most of the offensive linemen that he plays against, Donald is known for training hard and being coached hard. His training regimen includes practicing with fake knives in an eye-opening way. By virtually all measures and accounts, Aaron Donald fits the definition of a “tough” guy.
Due to the perception of Aaron Donald and his perceived toughness that made the recent sight of his crying on the sidelines noteworthy. It is a contrast to some of the recent times when famous male sports figures were openly crying. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had a difficult last second loss in the NBA Playoffs a couple years ago on a famous Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater shot. His tears following that game became a meme on the Internet that even Embiid himself eventually made fun of. But perhaps no other sports figures’ tears have been used for fodder more than Michael Jordan.
Jordan, viewed by most as the greatest NBA player of all-time, got surprisingly emotional and cried during his Hall of Fame enshrinement speech back in 2009. Jordan’s history of being vindictive and being brutal on teammates and opponents was even on display on the night he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame as he discussed his slights and “haters”. Jordan’s crying face became an Internet meme that is still used today.
Of course, for Black men and all men in American society, crying has been long viewed as a sign of “weakness”. The ignorance of limiting the humanity of men to anger as the only acceptable emotional outlet has become more discussed and criticized in recent years. Because the importance of mental health has been as discussed as ever before, old and destructive myths about manliness and masculinity are being to fall by the wayside. For football fans and sports fans of all ages, it is striking when a “man” of Aaron Donald’s perceived toughness is crying for any reason. It is great that Donald was comfortable enough to cry in public but it is as important that his crying was not viewed as a “weakness”.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines