Fifteen falls ago, a college football team played 11 games in 11 different cities, because its city, like the team itself, was drowning.
Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. A deluge of floodwater overtook the campus and the city. Many players and coaches lost their homes. But Tulane University's football team still played its season. The emotional toll on these players and coaches _ the mental stress and fatigue _ was like another overwhelming storm, this one invisible.
I think about those players occasionally _ I was a reporter covering the team for the New Orleans newspaper. And I've thought about them a lot during this pandemic _ so many current athletes, all at once, dealing with mental health issues they didn't anticipate. And for some athletes, this is in addition to mental health issues already part of their makeup.
