Curiosity overcomes me: what is Prince Harry’s connection to the NFL? In other words why did Prince Harry present the NFL Man of the Year Award. Yes, I know he got asked to do so but unsure of why.
And I find the flight to the UK and the subsequent short visit odd. Speaking from experience we had to make that unfortunate call to out-of-town children. They too wanted to be with their dad but not for a 45 minute visit. Either they cleared their schedule or delayed coming. Could Harry not have cleared his presence at the NFL Honors dinner? Or waited … On the other hand, maybe King Charles asked him to drop over, so he did.
Overall I find the short visit odd.
*For the record I have no idea who Tom Bower is nor do I read either British tabloids or U.S ones. I still find the short visit odd and am curious as to why Harry would present at the NFL awards. Must be a reason, though. Tell me.
I watched the show but have no idea. Could be because of his connection to the Invictus Games and to charities, which is what the Man of the Year honors. And the NFL wants a big name so why not him? The crowd roared when he came out.
I guess while I understand that it’s a long trip for a short visit, I also have sympathy that the actual time spent with the king was short.
We don’t know the particulars but with a busy schedule, maybe one day was all Prince Harry could do.
I’ve unfortunately had experience with a loved one having a TURP and another with cancer treatments. Both were extremely exhausting and I can imagine that the King was exhausted and uncomfortable. So a short visit is understandable. Why Prince Harry went straight back to the US, I don’t have an answer for that. But the fact that he cleared his schedule to make an arduous trip, says something to me.
Prince William looked exhausted and worn out in his recent appearance. I feel terrible for his burden. First his wife and now his father. A TURP is a pretty straightforward and elective surgery, to find cancer, devastating. It sounds like the cancer was a surprise diagnosis and unexpected.
The NFL tied itself to the military in a big way long ago. I suppose they invited Harry because of his work with wounded warriors and the Invictus Games.
I think the monarch’s schedule is highly regulated and that 45 minutes with his Dad was all his Dad was affording him. Squeezing him in. He left to be with Camilla.
He raced there for optics that’s all. He would have known that his father would not have time to see him, plus I doubt anyone trusts Harry enough to say anything around him…
In the absence of a wormhole connecting LA and London, I’m willing to overlook his flying to see his father. Plus he flew commercial; that plane was going to fly with or without him.
I don’t think the short visit was weird. Charles is recovering and working (and gee, Harry can’t be around the work), has a schedule, and has a lot of other people who want to visit too. I’m sure the visit was awkward, and 15 minutes was LONG. If he could have stayed longer, maybe they could have had dinner but then there is Camilla and more awkwardness.
I bet Harry is calling more and maybe that’s a better way for them to communicate now. When my grandfather was in the hospital, my sister called him for about 5 minutes every day. That’s all he could take because he’d get too tired and really they only had about 5 minutes of things to talk about since not much had changed from the day before. I’d go to visit because I was more local (still more than an hour away) and honestly 5 minutes was about all he could take for talking, so it was 5 minutes of talking and 55 minutes of sitting (or I’d read him the newspaper, or just one-sided conversation).
The dynamic took a big hit during the ‘kneeling era’ during the anthem, it was polarizing inside the military, especially with veterans. The face of IG presenting the award is a soft sell of having finally moved past that phase. Whether it was the NFL reaching out or a smart staffer in WME for whom that lightbulb turned on is something we may not find out, but was more advantageous for PRince Harry than anything else of late.
I was curious to learn more about Cam Heyward, the recipient of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year…and why Harry?
From the following article, I can see why Cam Heyward may have felt moved by Prince Harry presenting the award to him.
Heyward capped the week off by opening a new location of “Craig’s Closet” – named after his late father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward – at Brashear High School, which provides free dress clothes for high school boys in the Pittsburgh area.
While at The Caring Place, Heyward discussed with the kids there the grief he dealt with after losing his father when he was just 17 years old. The elder Heyward died of brain cancer in 2006 at age 39.
“The Caring Place, I’ve gotten to interact there and share my grief with younger kids," Heyward said. "I was just blown away by the kids, blown away by the opportunity to go there. That was truly special.”
You know what? It’s not up to any of us to decide or judge how a family member reaches to this news and their course of action. A visit, a call, an email - not our call.
I do like Harry. But I would hope even if I didn’t, I’d see the short visit for what it probably was - an immediate reaction to z receiving some tough family news and wanting to physically touch base.
I hope it was a personal visit not business and that it meant something to both of them.