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When Players are Just People

We all see professional athletes play their sports every season. They perform actions and make plays that most of us can only dream of making. They seem like gods at times. However, they are simply people, and they all live lives away from the games that they play so well.

So what do players do when they take off their sports jerseys and go back to living life just like the rest of us? What do the players do to pass the time during the off season?

In today’s world of highly competitive sports, there isn’t a true off season anymore. Years ago players could walk away from the game and truly relax for a few weeks, not worrying about what they did physically. But times have changed.

Even during the off season players need to continue to workout and stay in top-notch shape so that they keep their edge. There is so much talent and so much competition that no athletes can afford to let themselves drop off physically.

So athletes spend a decent amount of their time working out. They lift weights and they run and perform drills that help them improve at their sport and the position they play.

But players do need to take sometime for themselves as well.

Players with children spend a lot of time with their families. During the season life is so hectic that players never get to spend any quality time with their wife or kids. So, during the off season fathers and husbands reconnect with their families.

Younger players (and some older ones too) seem to be getting into video games. They set-up rooms with a huge television set, an expensive stereo system, and video game systems. Then they play video games including (and sometimes especially) the game that features them. Many players like to have video game tournaments. It allows them to be competitive while they aren’t playing their sport.

There are also many players who donate a lot of their time and money to charities.

Carmelo Anthony of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets spends a lot of his time helping out the Family Resource Centers of Colorado.

LeBron James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers gives a great deal of his time and money to help out people in his old neighborhood. In fact James was given the Community Assist Award for June of 2006 because of all his work for charities.

Derek Jeter, the team captain of baseball’s New York Yankees, has his own charitable foundation called the Turn 2 Foundation.

The 2007 Super Bowl MVP, Peyton Manning, also has his own charity called the Peyback Foundation.

Numerous players who do incredible things on the field and court also do incredible things off the field and court. They give back to the world, which is something they don’t have to do.

Players also like to find ways of making money working at other jobs and professions because they never know when they might be forced to leave professional sports. Athletes are always just one play from being forced into retirement.

The rest of the time, athletes who seem bigger than life actually live lives just like the rest of us. They like to hangout with friends and family. Although they are extraordinary athletes, players like to do the things that ordinary people like to do just like the rest of us.

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