What It Means to Be A Man In The NFL

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N.F.L. training camps begin next week, and with them the ritual of young players unfamiliar with a world where competition converges with unprecedented compensation and celebrity.

For the first time, two N.F.L. teams — the Giants and the Baltimore Ravens — have instituted player-driven mentorship programs in which rookies are paired with a team of veterans. The idea is that the veterans will shepherd young players through the minefield as if they were younger brothers and even sons. This means sharing triumphs and failures, painful experiences and embarrassments, and generally engaging in a level of discourse that is rare, not simply among athletes, but between men.

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