NEIL MOXLEY How existing in a bubble can spell real-life trouble
Follow us on Twitter: @peoplesport RIO FERDINAND this week peeled back the layers of his life to show a vulnerability we rarely see in professional sportspeople.
In a documentary about his struggle to cope in the wake of his wife Rebecca’s death from breast cancer, the former Manchester United and England captain laid bare his emotions.
And in so doing also revealed a brutal modern-day truth. Namely, that while no amount of money or privilege can protecttect y ou f r om l i f e’se’ s c r u e l l e s t blows,ws , f o o t b a l l e r s aree probably among the least equipped to deal with them.
Huge credit to Rio for baring his soul, but praise mustt also go to the fellow w dads whose storiesies were e v e n mor more e harrowing than Ferdinand’s.dinand’s.
The bloke who said aid the group experience was like the “s****iest-ever game of Top Trumps” was bang on the money.
Dig into anyone’s background and you won’t have far to look for heartache.
My own mum was left on her own with three lads to care for at a similar age to Ferdinand after my dad drank himself to death. However, what continues to stagger me – having worked in and around elite footballers for 25 years – isn’t so much their struggle in unusual circumstances such as this, but more about the ridiculous level to which they are cocooned. This is a generalisation – and there will be specific individuals, like Ferdinand, who appear to have more of a handle on everyday existence – but surely the time has come for more of them to step outside their bubble. For insta instance, during the documen documentary there was one mom moment when t he cen centre-half admitted th that he knew what a w washing machine looked like, but he had no idea how to operate it. I’ve mentioned it before, but Phil N Neville not making a cup of tea before he was 35 years old or travelling on the Tube is still genuinely bewildering bewildering. In fact, I once carried out an interview with Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen, who told a story about an attendant in the players’ lounge at the training ground of AC Milan, one of his former clubs. A member of the Milan squad asked this fella – standing 15 yards away – to get the television remote control for him, despite it being within that player’s own reach. Honestly, sleep, eat, train, play. On a loop. It’s as much as some of them do. Now, I would not wish for a single second for anyone to have to go through what Ferdinand did – or my mum for that matter.
However, apart from the financial aspect, my old lady was far betterequipped to deal with the issues facing her because by then she had built up a bank of life experiences.
Ferdinand had no idea how to even load a washing machine. Let alone how to turn it on. All of a sudden, he has to cope with his own loss and look after three kids.
Perhaps clubs and the stars themselves should now look at broadening players’ own horizons by having them adopt a family and exposing them to real life.
Jermain Defoe is a prime example.
Sunderland’s striker iss now 34 – and there’s a fair bet he would not have done this 10 years ago – but his clear affection for young Bradley Lowery is genuinely life-affirming.
He showers the fiveyear- old, who has