Tributes have been pouring in for the Dallas Cowboys’ strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul, 54, chi è morto Wednesday after experiencing a medical emergency unrelated to Covid-19 at the team’s headquarters.
During the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game against the Washington Football Team, each player wore a sticker with Paul’s initials on his helmet. Players also joined hands and knelt before kickoff.
“Markus meant a lot to so many people and he made an impact on so many people,” Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton said after his team’s 41-16 perdita.
“And I think for us, just having a chance to talk about it, remember him and just talk about ways that he has helped mentor us and just the way he was as a man, the way he lived his life, I think that’s what made him so special as a person,” Dalton said. “And so you feel for the team, you feel for his family, you feel for everybody involved and our prayers are out for everybody, especially his family.”
In a season in which la pandemia di coronavirus has meant adjusting on the fly has become the norm, having to play an NFL game just 24 hours after Paul’s death was a whole new level of adversity for the team.
“You find out a lot about people in these times. I can’t tell you how proud I am of this football team,” disse Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. “Ma si, it’s a week that I don’t think any of us will ever forget.”
The Cowboys honor Paul before the start of the game against the Washington Football Team.
‘We’ve just got to lean on each other’
As Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott noted, it was the pregame warm-ups when Paul’s jovial presence was missed most.
“We were lining up for practice, getting ready to stretch, and you get that reminder that he’s not here with us anymore,” Elliott disse. “It definitely is tough, and we’ve just got to lean on each other and help each other get through this tough time.”
Other Cowboys players paid tribute on social media. Linebacker Jaylon Smith said he “learned a lot from observing” Paolo, while cornerback Jourdan Lewis called Paul a “great man” chi “loved getting us better.”
Immediately after Paul suffered the medical emergency on Tuesday, he was treated by the Cowboys’ medical staff and taken to a hospital by ambulance. Era lì, circondato dalla famiglia, that he died Wednesday evening, secondo la squadra. The cause of death is pending.
Paul era alla sua 21a stagione come allenatore di forza e condizionamento, secondo al sito web dei Cowboys. Prima di entrare a far parte di Dallas 2018, ha speso 11 anni nel ruolo con i New York Giants. Nel suo tempo da allenatore, ha aiutato le squadre a vincere cinque Super Bocce.
Before coaching, Paul played football at Syracuse University, dove è stato capitano della squadra e due volte difensivo americano.
