We will never get people to understand how living here can and does impact a player. And that is because people simply don't want to believe it. Reason ? Its because we all want to be able to point to something that can be changed. It's against our genetic makeup to throw up our hands and say "nothing can be done". But interestingly something can be done. Making sure we spend the time and money to acquire players that will not succumb to the softness of our life here. And that is not an easy task. It involves an effort to try and determine the heart and soul of a player. Yes-they are all tough-or they wouldn't be on the field. But to maintain that toughness in the face of our So Cal life-that is where the expertise needs to focus. That's a lot more than looking at film, going to combines, etc. It involves meeting family, coaches, friends, teachers, etc. to try and determine what someone is made of. So yes-something can be done. But whether we want to admit it or not it simply is harder here than in other NFL cities-especially when half or more of the home games are attended by fans of opposing teams. We are different here. It's as simple as that.
