For Patriot fathers, finding family time is biggest challenge

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When you’re in the NFL, you don’t get a lot of time off in-season. If you’re a parent, you need to make the most of every moment. For players with kids who live across the country, it’s a big challenge.

That’s why Mohamed Sanu spends so much time on airplanes.

The new Patriots wide receiver is a proud father of 4-year-old Mohamed Sanu Jr., who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he has an off day, he typically jumps on a flight to Ohio the night before to take his son to school the next morning. That means Sanu usually flies to Cincinnati on Monday nights, then flies back on Tuesday and is ready to practice the next day.

“I know, for me, if I was in ( Mohamed Jr.’s) position, I would want the same thing,” Sanu said. “At the end of the day, that quick drive to school it means everything to him. Walking him into school means everything to him and me too. Those moments are moments you remember forever.”

Raising children has its challenging moments. You can say the same about playing in the NFL. For a better part of six months of the year, players have most of their days spoken for. Those with children find themselves scrambling for any free minute to spend with family.

“There are days where my oldest son is like, ‘Daddy, I don’t want you to go to work today,’ “said Matthew Slater, a father of three. “That’s tough to hear as a dad, but you try to explain to a 4-year-old why you have to work. That time away is tough, but I feel like I’m sacrificing now for them and hoping to make a better way for

them.”

Take the fame and riches that come with being a professional athlete and players grow up quickly in the NFL. Add in being a father and it can become complicated, but these challenges have shaped all the fathers on the Patriots.

If it’s 4 p.m. and you’re in the Patriots locker room, you can usually find John Simon scurrying out the back exit to the player’s parking lot. The defensive end has little time to stick around, but for good reason – he has to pick up his 2-year-old son, Enzo, at school.

“I actually get to pick him up from school most days. It times up when we get out of here,” said Simon, a father of two. “I drop him off to school on Mondays because we come in a little later. I look forward to that.”

Finding time is the biggest challenge for NFL players-turned-new parents.

Patriots players spend all day inside Gillette Stadium. They have team meetings, weightlifting sessions, practice and more meetings. There’s also more film work and the things players need to do to keep their body right, like carve out time for massages.

All this means spending less time with your kids. It also means trying to make up for lost time.

“You have to have that second wind when you get home,” said Brandon Bolden, a father of three. “Kids don’t want to hear ‘it was a bad day at practice’ or ‘I had a lot of running to do.’ No, it’s ‘daddy’s home, it’s time to play. I mess with Bill (Belichick) about it all the time, ‘that’s my extra conditioning, go home and wrestle with my kids.’”