The Players’ Tribune

“I can’t accept that ending, man. That can’t be what people remember me by. No way that’s gonna be how Trezz went out.” Grief, TMZ headlines, a devastating injury ... for Montrezl Harrell it's been setback after setback. Now comes the comeback.

Gareth Southgate and the England squad look to capture their first Euro title: “I tell them that when you go out there, in this shirt, you have the opportunity to produce moments that people will remember forever.”⁠ Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/Southgate

A surprise fit for a ̵K̵i̵n̵g̵ ̵ Captain! 🎂 Happy 50th birthday, Derek Jeter! 📸: Taylor Baucom/The Players’ Tribune

Ilkay Gündogan in 2021: “To be clear, my parents did a great job raising me and my brother, Ilker. But I was studying so much that I hardly had time for anything else. My life was just school and training. When my friends went out on a Friday night, I’d stay at home because I had a game the next day.⁠ ⁠ I missed out on a lot. I kind of feel like I sacrificed my youth.⁠ ⁠ And the crazy thing is that I didn’t even know if I was gonna turn professional. A lot of kids are like, “Oh, I’m gonna become a footballer.” But I never had that laser focus. I had exams to pass. And to me, football was still supposed to be fun.⁠ ⁠ The first time I seriously thought about turning pro, I was 17. I was with the Bochum first team on a preseason camp, which was the first time I had joined a professional team for an extended period. I played in two friendly games, and I scored in one and assisted in the other. I was like, Huh, I could do something here.⁠ ⁠ About six months later, the day arrived: I left home to sign a professional contract with Nürnberg.⁠ ⁠ And then came all those things that I had never really thought about.⁠ The first thing you realise is that you have to leave your family and friends. Imagine this kid who has spent his whole life in the same city, close to his parents and brother and cousins, and now he has to travel 450 kilometres away to live on his own. Then he has to make the step up to senior football, which is just a completely different world from youth football. He gets injured after two weeks. Then he gets frustrated with the older players, because they are simply wrong about many things — but his Turkish upbringing has told him not to disrespect his elders, so he stays quiet.⁠ ⁠ That was me at Nürnberg. It was a total shock to the system.⁠ ⁠ Back then I actually remember being grateful that Schalke had rejected me. I had already faced this huge disappointment, so I was kind of prepared for another struggle. In the end, that’s what helped me break through at Nürnberg and have two successful seasons there.⁠ ⁠ The longer you go in life before suffering a setback, I think, the harder it is to handle.” Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/Guendogan

He’s an NBA champ now, teach. 😉 Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/Tatum

In 2021, Derek Jeter wrote a letter to his younger self: “The funny thing is, you will fail so much in the minors that it will turn into a positive. You’ll learn to convince yourself, truly, that the only thing that exists in the world is the next at bat, the next ground ball, the next moment.⁠ ⁠ If there is one key to success that I can give you, it’s to treat every game like you’re still in Little League. When you were completely oblivious to the fear of failure. When it’s all just fun. If you can embrace that mindset even in the majors, then the last at bat won’t exist. There’s no failure. There is only the moment. The pitcher. The ball. The game. The thing that you love more than anything in the world.⁠ ⁠ And the beauty of baseball is that every day is a new chance to get it right.⁠ If you can keep pushing through the failure, you’ll keep building yourself up, and eventually you’ll get a chance to live your dreams in pinstripes. You will wear that famous navy cap. The same one you’re wearing now, on your way to junior high. You will walk out under that giant Kingdome roof in Seattle for your first major league game and spot your father in the stands. He’ll be playing it cool. But you’ll see what it means to him. Everything will seem like it did that first time you walked into Tiger Stadium as a kid. Somehow everything will be bigger. It will be even more colorful and alive. It will seem unreal.⁠ ⁠ After the game, you and Dad will meet up, and he’ll say, ‘I’m proud of you, son.’ And you’ll go for a postgame meal together at the first place that comes to mind.⁠ ⁠ You’ll go to McDonald’s.⁠ ⁠ You’ll sit there having hamburgers and fries as a New York Yankee. You and your dad. Your idol. The guy who used to sit on the couch with you before afternoon kindergarten and compete — and I mean compete — in playing along with The Price is Right. The guy who you watched in awe, just playing softball in Kalamazoo.⁠ ⁠ Nothing will ever take that moment away.” Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/JeterNYY

In 2019, Christian Yelich wrote about how his mom saved his baseball career: “‘I’ll give you five bucks if you get a hit today.’⁠ ⁠ That’s what got me into the car....⁠ ⁠ But also it was just a really good bribe on her part, too, because it was a two-part thing. It wasn’t just about me going to the game. My mom’s offer also ensured that I would try hard once I got there....⁠ ⁠ So on what I’m pretty sure was the first pitch I saw, I swung the bat like there was no tomorrow. Bat struck ball and, well, I’d love to tell you I hit a seed down the first base line or something … but to be honest with you the ball only went about five feet.⁠ ⁠ I took off for first base as fast as I could, like my life depended on it. But I probably could’ve just walked to first at that point. You know how those little-kid games go. Basically if you hit the ball forward, and it stays in fair territory, it’s gonna be a base hit. And that’s what this one turned out to be.⁠ I had a huge grin on my face when I reached first base and looked over toward the bleachers. Like….⁠ ⁠ That’ll be five bucks!⁠ ⁠ Pay up, Mom.⁠ ⁠ When you’re seven and someone gives you $5, it’s like you just hit the lotto. I felt like I could buy anything in existence at that point, but I’m pretty sure I just spent all my money at the snack shack by the field.⁠ ⁠ And then from that point forward, for whatever reason, I was never worried about being hit by a pitch again. After I put the ball in play that one time it was like, Hey, look … everything’s going to be fine with baseball.⁠ ⁠ It only took one hit. And five bucks....⁠ ⁠ Everything I’ve done up to this point as a player, everything I’m doing now, and everything I do in the future … all of that would’ve been wiped away if my mom wouldn’t have cared as much as she did back then. There would’ve been no draft-day celebration for me, no magical run to the NLCS, no MVP. None of that exists without her.” Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/Yelich

In 2020, Sam Gagner remembered his good friend and Edmonton Oilers legend Joey Moss: “When I was drafted by Edmonton, I thought of the Oilers’ dynasty years, the Stanley Cups they had won and the Hall of Fame players who had worn the jersey. Now, as I look back on my time there and think about what it means to be an Edmonton Oiler, I think about Joey Moss. He gave everything he had to the city of Edmonton and took so much pride in calling himself an Oiler. If my stall was unkempt, or my laundry bag was left out, I heard about it from Joey. If I came to the rink with my hair disheveled, I’d hear from Joey about how I must have brushed my hair with a pork chop. The banter between Joey and the guys in that dressing room was what made playing in Edmonton so special. He really was the heart and soul of all of those teams. I had the best game of my career in February of 2012, and I received calls afterwards from Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey — which was incredibly special and something I’ll never forget. But the number one memory I have from that night, was being the last player at the rink with Joey and the other trainers. Joey went to the back fridge and grabbed a couple beers because he said he was proud of me and wanted to celebrate with me. That’s just the kind of person Joey was.... I will always cherish everything about our relationship. The sleepover nights, the bowling alley, the wrestling matches, the banter back and forth, the way Joey would light up a room with his smile. Most of all, I’ll remember the way Joey made me feel. The way he made everyone feel. When I remember Joey, I’ll think about how we believed all along that we were doing all these things to enrich his life….. but the truth is that he was enriching ours. Joey made everyone who spent time with him a better person. The fact that he had Down syndrome didn’t matter to him — and it didn’t matter to us, either. He was just one of the guys and that is what made him so special.” Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/ForJoey

Bruno Fernandes: “I will never forget where I was when I was given the opportunity to come here four years ago. I was standing in the closet in our bedroom in Lisbon. My agent had rang me up around 10 o’clock at night, and my daughter was only three years old at the time, so that was bedtime for us. I went into the little closet to be quiet. I always told my agent, during my whole career, ‘I never want to hear about any transfer until it’s 100% real. I don’t want to be distracted unless there is an offer.’ So I knew if he was calling me at that hour, something was going on. I shut the door and I said, ‘Miguel? Yeah?’ He said, ’Are you ready to hear the news?’ I said, ‘About what?’ ‘About going.’ ‘Going where? Spurs?’ ‘United.’ ‘Are you joking?’ ‘No, no. I’m serious. United. It’s done. It’s just on you now. What do you want to do?’ I didn’t even reply. I started fighting back tears. But you know the feeling when you are trying to hold it in, so the other person doesn’t realise you’re crying, and you can’t even speak? He said, ‘Bruno? Bruno? Hello?’ At that moment, my wife, Ana, comes looking for me in the bedroom. ‘Bruno??? Bruno???’ She opens the door. ‘What’s going on? Why are you in the closet?’ I said, ‘It’s Miguel. He just called. He’s saying United want me.’ She said, ‘Wait ...... Are you crying?’ I told her, ‘I don’t know! I think it’s happiness!’ (Ana never cries. She’s the tough one. I am the emotional one. I know she is reading this right now, laughing at me.)”

Defending French Open champion Iga Swiatek has her sights set on the Triple Crown. Last year, she wrote: “Nothing can prepare you for winning your first Grand Slam.⁠ ⁠ Especially if you're an introvert, like me, from a place where nobody would expect you to succeed in tennis. Well, at least didn't expect it until now. After Roland Garros, things had been pretty normal when I was in France. But when I got back to Poland? In Poland, it was really different....⁠ ⁠ Even now, something like that feels weird to talk about - it's usually not really Polish way to speak about your accomplishments, to be honest. But I think about that day a lot. In the moment, there was all this adrenaline.⁠ ⁠ Pure adrenaline - that's the only way I can think to explain what it was like. Nothing could have prepared me for it. Winning my first Slam obviously changed everything for me, overnight. There are still many places in the world where for sure I'm not going to be recognized. If a random person looks at me, they're not going to say, Oh, she's an athlete, she plays tennis. But not in Poland. I've actually had some situations where people recognized me by my voice when I was ordering something to eat.⁠ ⁠ I'm grateful, but truthfully, sometimes it all feels strange and disorienting.” Read the full story: playerstribu.ne/Iga 📸: Sam Robles/The Players’ Tribune