"What do I do now?" Martin shouted in frustration.

"Now we wait and see how bad it is and how quick it heals," said Gus, the head athletic trainer, as he walked back into the training room.

"Sorry for yelling," Martin said as he tried to contain his anger. "I didn't think anyone was in here."

"It's okay. As you can tell from my hair and the wrinkles on my face, I've been an athletic trainer in this league a long time and I've seen my share of injuries, and they are never fun and always frustrating," he said with a thick New York accent.

"I just have to get back on that field. This is all I've got," he said as he punched the table he was sitting on.

"I know," answered Gus. "I know."

He did know. He had seen thousands of players come through training camp. Some came from the finest football programs in the country; others literally came from jobs bagging groceries and building houses. They came from farms in the Midwest, the streets of California, the bright lights of Texas, and the suburbs of Florida. Some came with fame and fortune; others were so broke they had to sleep in their cars. Yet all of them came with their eyes wide open and a dream to play in the NFL. For some guys the dream came true. They made the team with only a dime to their name and in a few years they were household names, celebrity endorsers and multimillionaires. Others were not as fortunate. They came to training camp with a dream and left with a bruised body and a broken heart. Of those who failed to make the team, some would give up on their football careers, while others would keep their dream alive and make it eventually with another team or play in Canada. Gus had seen it all. He didn't know Martin, but he knew his story was like the stories of so many who had come before him. He also knew that to help Martin he could do what he did for the last 30 years for countless players: help him heal as quickly as possible, make him laugh, and share a word of encouragement. It was his role and he took pride in it. Gus looked at the ankle.

"See, the swelling is already coming down. Are you a fast healer?"

"Yes, always been. How long do you think I'm out?"

"Hard to say. A few days. A week, tops. Good news is that it's not a high ankle sprain."

"A few days. A week," Martin said grimacing and shaking his head. "They'll probably cut me before then."

"I'm not so sure, Martin. You played great tonight. You might have made them curious. They may want to see what else you can do before they make a decision to let you go. Besides, injuries are not all that bad. There's an upside, you know."

"Like what," said Martin who never heard anyone say anything positive about an injury before.

"Like the fact that an injury slows you down."

"Yeah, they really slow you down when you can't run on them," Martin said with a big smile and laugh. He was known for his big smile that he would flash during college games and afterward for the local media, but he smiled a lot less frequently these days.

"No, I mean they slow you down mentally so you can think more clearly," Gus said, chuckling. "Everyone comes to training camp and within the first day their head is swirling with new rules and information, greater expectations and demands and new strategies and techniques. Suddenly it feels like the earth is spinning faster and you're on one of those teacup rides in an amusement park. Frankly, the fast pace of life and football throws a lot of players off balance. There's so much to remember mentally and so much pressure to perform physically that players lose their way. So, my new friend, the upside is this: A minor injury and a few days off from the whirlwind is a great time to get refocused and think about what you truly want. It's a time to get your head right."

"But what good is having my head right if my leg won't move?" Martin said.

"Great point, but what good is having a healthy body if your mind is not in the game?" countered Gus. "While my job is to help athletes stay strong and healthy, I've been around enough of them to know that how you train the mind is actually more important than how you train the body. Everyone comes into this league with ability. Some have it more than others. But it's not ability that separates those who make the team from those who don't. It's sustainability. And sustainability has as much to do with mental strength and mental preparation as it does physical health. How you deal with an injury matters. How you deal with setbacks matter. How you focus and prepare matters. How you handle all the pressure of being in a fishbowl where everyone is watching your every move, that matters. I can get your ankle ready to play and your athletic ability can carry you in the short run, but it's your mind that will determine how well you perform in the long run. As Sun Tzu said, 'Every battle is won before it's ever fought.' It starts in the mind."

Martin nodded as he listened intently. It wasn't the first time he'd heard someone talk about the importance of a positive attitude. He had heard plenty of coaches talk about staying positive, and it seemed his mother's favorite phrase was "positive energy."

"So how about I focus on getting your ankle healed and you use this time to get your mind focused and ready so you can play at the top of your game. I'm telling you, Martin, there is an upside and a blessing here. You just have to realize it."

"Sounds like a deal," Martin said as he wished quietly to himself that it was as easy as Gus made it seem. He hadn't been in a good state of mind lately and he had a very good reason. And as Gus walked out of the treatment room to his office, "that reason" called Martin on his cell phone.