FOXBORO – Each week, massive but mild-mannered Nate Solder lines up across from some of the world’s most devastating athletes. Across from the affable Patriots left tackle are humans with a size/strength/speed combination that is perhaps unmatched in any other professional sport. And those men often show up for work in an awful mood.
Greg Hardy, who used to call himself The Kraken and hasn’t played a regular season NFL game since Week 1 of last year because of his violation of the NFL domestic violence policy, doesn’t seem to be a real stable person. Solder gets Hardy this week.
“He’s great,” said Solder when I asked him about Hardy on Wednesday. “He’s long, athletic, plays hard, there’s a lot to handle.”
He’s also hell-bent on making you look bad and that’s his only job, while you have a number of responsibilities, I mentioned to Solder.
“I don’t think of it in those terms necessarily,” Solder said. “There’s plenty of opportunities when it’s just me on him. A lot of things we do work to my advantage too because he doesn’t necessarily know where I’m going. But when you get a guy like that that does have that kind of edge, it’s gonna be tough. You gotta be prepared because he’s just a good player.”
The preparation for the challenge a player like Hardy – or any elite defensive end – poses isn’t one that a player can merely flip a switch and be prepared for.
“The roots (of preparation) gotta be deep,” he said. “You gotta be working all offseason, all through camp because you know throughout the season you’re gonna see exceptional players like him and you need to be physically and mentally prepared. That comes from the preparation, that comes from focusing, limiting distractions in your day-to-day life. All those things kinda help you play your best game.”
In order to play professional football – or any spot which requires contact – well, there is a level of mental preparation necessary. Some players plumb their psyches to find something repellent then take that perceived offense to the field with them and act out on their opponents.
In a memorable 1997 profile of Bryan Cox, Rick Reilly wrote in Sports Illustrated, "Bryan Cox walks into his Northbrook, Ill., home to find his wife being raped by a man in a Packers jersey. Cox's four kids have been kidnapped, and the ransom note lies right in front of him, on Packers stationery no less. Across the room....”
The article also relates that Cox would imagine himself being sold into slavery and then envision his opponent as the slave owner who purchased Cox.
That article has been lodged in my mind for nearly two decades as illustrative of the mindset at least one player felt he needed to have in order to succeed. I told Solder about the story.
“That’s definitely an extreme,” he deadpanned.
“Do you have to be pissed off?” I asked.
“Emotions play a role, that’s for sure,” he answered. “In terms of being pissed off, you have to be just about at that point, yeah.”
After 19 games off, Greg Hardy is going to play a little bit crazy on Sunday. And dealing with that will be all in a day’s work for Solder.