For anyone who's ever spent lots of time trying to "think like a player" and speaking with those same players in an attempt to better understand their mindset, you've probably realized it's not an easy thing to do.
Mundane cookie-cutter answers are the norm when speaking with veteran players who realize media availability is often times more an obligation to be fulfilled than an enjoyable exercise.
If you think speaking to a locker room full of players immediately after the game will get them "speaking from the heart as they've just come off the field of battle," the exact opposite is actually true. A few rare, honest soundbites aside, pro athletes clam up and retreat back into their boring, protective shells the moment cameras and recorders enter the room. This is even more true after a tough loss.
The best time to hear their real thoughts and insight, the moment they're speaking and acting as their truest selves, oblivious to the rest of the world? When they're on the field of play, surrounded by 10 teammates and 11 opponents, expressing themselves through their play and communicating in the most tense of moments.
Thanks to the Philadelphia Union for once again strapping up midfielder Maurice Edu with a microphone during the team's recent game against the New York Red Bulls (above video).
And thanks to Edu for insight he provides through the exercise, and of course for the hilarious dogging of teammate
Amobi Okugo
's
American football field goal attempt
wayward shot.
