On Husain Abdullah’s retirement and what ‘that guy loves football’ is starting to mean

The phrase is one of the most used in the sport, across the NFL and particularly with the Chiefs. On the surface, it describes men who are good teammates, disciplined in their personal lives and committed to the cause enough to stay diligent with film work, conditioning and nutrition.

But there’s another meaning to the phrase that is taking on more and more importance, one that comes from football’s darker realities.

Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid have used the phrase to describe stars like Jeremy Maclin and Eric Berry, but also guys lower on the depth chart like Daniel Sorensen and Frank Zombo:

That guy loves football.

This comes up after Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah surprised his team and the NFL by announcing his retirement on Monday. Abdullah is just 30 years old, had made $2.275 million over the last two seasons and would’ve likely had another seven-figure salary in 2016.

Abdullah mentioned “numerous” factors, including what he said was his fifth concussion last year, an injury that kept him out for five games. Abdullah went on to say he wanted to be a benefit to society after football and needed a “sound mind” to do that.

It is within that context that Dorsey was asked Tuesday how much the possibility of surprises like Abdullah’s factor when the Chiefs evaluate players in the draft and free-agency.

“When we do our research on players, we’ve always said we want guys who are very passionate about the game of football,” he said. “That are good guys within that locker room and will be good people in the community. Of course you’re going to try to put all those pieces together, and hopefully you make the right decision.”

More and more, that specific evaluation — how much does this player love football? — is taking on a different meaning.

Abdullah is part of what feels like a still-relatively-small-but-growing trend of NFL players retiring with plenty of productive years remaining. Calvin Johnson of the Lions — a potential Hall of Famer — is the most famous. Chris Borland of the 49ers — completely healthy, and on the cusp of making a lot of money — is perhaps the most alarming to the NFL.

The response of many teams has been to put even more focus on how a player feels about the sport. It has become football jargon.

But there is a growing number of men inside the sport who see the meaning of the phrase evolving.

Two agents who spoke for this column — Abdullah’s agent did not immediately return a message — agreed that the phrase has begun to refer to players who don’t think about or have made peace with the brutal effects of football on the body.

Every business wants employees who enjoy their work. Football is such a team sport that so-called buy-in is important, too. Coaches are constantly asking at least some players to sacrifice their own stats or fame for the greater good.

But there is a potentially ugly side of this, too, that some agents and players are increasingly concerned with:

“He loves football” is heard by some as code for “he’ll play through pain.” With head injuries now ubiquitous among the most important topics around football, that includes concussions.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger self-reported concussion symptoms and took himself out of a game last November. He said on his radio show the next week, “I’ll play through any injury but brain.”

It’s an important step, but it’s unrealistic to expect most or even many players to follow Roethlisberger’s lead. Most obviously, Roethlisberger is set financially and does not need to worry about being replaced on the roster. Most players are not in his situation and have heard coaches or others say, “The most important ability is availability.”

We can all understand that concussions are not worth playing through, but the culture of sports — not just football — reveres those who play through pain.

The football conversation is evolving. From the NFL to colleges and perhaps especially high schools, the people who work in football on all levels understand that the available talent pool is changing.

Wanting to find players who love the sport enough to grind through the hard work and long hours required to be great is in one sense good business.

But valuing or otherwise encouraging players to ignore head injuries would end up as the worst kind of business.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 10:26 AM with the headline "On Husain Abdullah’s retirement and what ‘that guy loves football’ is starting to mean."