Ty Law understands why Torrey Smith will play against the Patriots Sunday night, less than 24 hours after his younger brother was killed in a motorcycle accident.
In 1999, Law played in a game for the Patriots the day after his grandfather -- who had raised him and who Law regarded as his father -- died.
"It's very difficult, because you get the call and it's so unexpected," Law said Sunday night on Comcast SportsNet's 'Patriots Pregame Live'. "We got out of meetings and at 9 o'clock I got a page telling me my grandfather's passed. I was supposed to actually go see him the next day; no one expected him to be gone . . .
"When you get that type of news, I mean, your heart just drops. You're emotional; you don't know what to do. But I had to think. I had a lot of great teammates who consoled me throughout the process. Willie McGinest stayed in my room with me that night because he wasn't just my grandfather, he was my father. He raised me. So that was really tough.
"The thing that I had to think about: What would he want to me to do? My grandfather loved to see me play on Sunday. So I didn't just play for myself and my teammates; I played for him. Because he would have wanted me to play no matter what. And that's what I did.