There's No 'I' in Aaron Curry

The old sports adage states that there is "no 'I' in team." We love it because it succinctly yet thoroughly teaches everything we need to know about playing  a team sport.  

Too bad professional sports often times resemble a mockery of this beloved sports proverb. Players demand more money. They gripe about playing time. Some have even refused to play in protest of something that does not concern the team.

Yet for most fans, I think, the sports deities bequeath upon us timely moments  so as not to make us lose our faith in the games we love.

I don't consider myself a huge NFL fan, and I'm certainly not a fan of the Seattle Seahawks. But Aaron Curry has made me a fan for the time being of the Seahawks, Wake Forest football, and primarily him.

I admit I have not watched a single live down of football that involved Aaron Curry. It's hard to not know who he is because of the voluminous NFL draft coverage. The last I heard before the actual draft day was that he could, though chances were very slim, be picked number one if contract negotiations did not work out with Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions.

As Roger Goodell strolled to the podium and announced the first pick not long after 4 o'clock eastern time, I sat watching only half-interested. My Buffalo Bills were picking eleventh overall so I still had some time.

I'm at best a laissez-faire football fan, so I'm not ashamed to say that I needed more than an education on the next two picks.

Then Seattle selected the outside linebacker from Wake Forest fourth overall. At this point I was helping the better half clean around the house, and since this pick involved an ACC school (my current place of residence) I sat down with mild interest.

The cameras swarmed Curry's table and he started crying. Not too surprised (many cry at the draft), my attentiveness grew as Curry refused to sheath his emotional response. I said aloud to myself, "That's awesome." He wants people to see this unadulterated emotion.

This was loud enough for my wife, an avid yet extremely critical sports fan herself, to hear in the kitchen.

She quickly came into the room and commented on the green hat the Seahawks provided. I rolled my eyes.

Then Curry made his way to Erin Andrews for his first interview as a professional athlete. She referenced the sheer emotion displayed in the green room and in classic sports interview absurdity, asked to put it into words.

Aaron Curry's response earned him two immediate fans.

He said, "It's hard to put into words how hard we work our whole lives for this one moment."

Two simple pronouns: "we" and "our." One nominative, one possessive, but both plural in form. Perhaps meaningless to some, but speaks volumes to others.

He didn't talk about himself or say "I've worked hard" or "People doubted me." He realizes that it he is not alone; he is not unique when it comes to be being drafted, playing football, making millions.

He also mentioned, in what has become a cliché for young men who were just selected to make millions, that he is thrilled that he can now provide for his mother and younger brothers.

It isn't about him, or how good he is, or how much money he will make. It's about the success of his team. In fact, not even the team. It's about the fraternity that is professional athletes. He wasn't just happy for himself, he was happy for all of those who worked so hard to get there and can now repay their families.

In an event that is often too much about the individual in a consummate team sport, Curry showed everyone that he gets it and possesses an unbridled appreciation for all involved in his success.

Curry's family quickly joined him on stage. Adorned with those distinctive green hats, they smiled uncontrollably.

My wife, gazing at the TV in rare appreciation of the genuineness of an overpaid professional athlete, let out an "awhhh."

I knew then that I wasn't just overanalyzing Curry's answer. His subconscious had spoken and chose the correct pronoun, thus proving to the both of us that that old sports adage is not dead. There is no "I" in team, and there definitely is no "I" in Aaron Curry.