Tears of Circumstance | Antonio Pierce Documentary

Look at this This moment right here the moment Antonio Pierce a man of extreme intensity and stoic vibrato Let his guard down a moment that Raider fans including myself Thought was an interim coaches realization that the aforementioned interim tag would be removed in short order That a man who grew up rooting for the team He was now leading to a victory against the eventual Super Bowl champions would be able to call himself a head coach of that same team tears of joy Except those aren't tears of joy. They're tears of pain of loss of mystery They're tears of circumstance One of my biggest fears in life is becoming successful enough to change the lives of the ones I love without them being there to reap the benefits Accomplishing something so unbelievable so great, but so late Late enough that the people in my life that are the reason for the accomplishments would never know that I've done it I don't claim to know the inner workings of Antonio Pierce's mind But from what he said about this infamous moment on that field Christmas Day in Missouri I think he shares some of that same sentiment Everybody look at that Christmas Day and be like damn this dude's looking up in the sky. He's catching his breath. He's relieved Nah, man, like yeah, where my mom at? Shit when you're only child and uh, no brothers no sisters My boy keep you out of trouble whoops your ass Loves you up. You know, I mean takes you to practice get you up at 4 in the morning take you to school Picture over 4 p.m. Take you to practice Of course if it makes sense for everybody to believe that in that moment He was beginning to let himself think he'd be the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and maybe part of him did But that moment of pure joy for AP will now be forever synonymous with the loss of his mother His circumstances led him to this moment growing up in Compton, California with a mother who loved and supported his athletic career She was his support system She was part of the reason he is who he is from joining the NFL as an undrafted Undersized linebacker to leading the Giants to Super Bowl victory against the undefeated Tom Brady led New England Patriots She was right there by his side She never got to see her son coach the team they grew up rooting for and almost a year to the day of her passing Was the day the Raiders beat the Chiefs AP doesn't exactly consider himself a religious person, which is something I consistently battle with as well I'm pretty sure something happens when we leave this earth. But other than that, I'm pretty lost What I do know, however Is that there are moments in my life that even the most non-religious person would have to admit are pretty interesting coincidences and maybe that's all those moments were Interesting coincidences, but sometimes those little moments are all people need to get themselves to the next day and in the case of Antonio Pierce a moment that mirrored his Christmas Day tears of pain gave him a little moment of his own an Interesting coincidence like she was here to see so much you accomplished and she was so proud and when I think about you saying You know Where where she at? It's not because you're trying to figure out where she is now. It's because she was always there after every game When you coach, you know for the babies for sure, you know, she loved those grandkids Did you ever just get a moment man where you just like just a it's the team I grew up loving these were the colors That could keep us safe and like we did it. You know, we are here. Have you ever just got an opportunity to Get to that place with them. I was outside for about two three hours I was waiting on Mark to tell me I got the job. Yeah, I mean I went outside the facility It's pitch black everybody had already left the building man, I got a lot of this damn thing I go upstairs I'm gonna go outside. I'm looking up I can shoot the stars Like come on, bro. Seriously, two of them cool And there's one of those moments you like You know, I ain't the most Super religious guy, you know, I mean, I'm not like all but I get it I know there's there's certain things that just wrong that you just can't explain but There's probably one of those moments. I was like damn. She's You see it's not about believing in some higher power to give you purpose in life It's not about becoming a product of your circumstances physically or emotionally It's about being being present in the moment letting yourself acknowledge that at what you might consider to be the peak of your life There may also be a little bit of sadness that creeps in and that's okay You cannot experience the absolute joy of life without experiencing those same emotions the opposite way it's kind of like being a Raider fan a coach that grew up a Raider fan a coach that can connect to the players on a human level a coach that can understand the Tears the fan base has given their team for better or for worse is a coach who's uniquely equipped to lead this team to better days Uniquely equipped not only thanks to his circumstances But in spite of them and how he looks for players who've shown an ability to persevere Most notably a fourth round rookie quarterback who's had some unfortunate circumstances of his own