They were that intertwined.
asserted
They → intertwine → ?
Brothers by birth, best friends by choice, connected by the unmistakable adoration of a little brother for the big brother he emulated and looked up to, and the pride of an older brother watching his little brother chase dreams that once belonged to both of them.
asserted
that → connect → them
And nearly two years after Tiger was killed in the New Year’s Day terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, those stories are about to intersect again in the place where everything changed.
asserted
everything → kill → place
On Sunday, Jack, who was born and raised in nearby Lafayette, will return to New Orleans with the Raiders to play the Saints, carrying his brother’s memory and an opportunity to create a different association with a city his family understandably connects to its darkest day.
asserted
family → bear → day
“It will be a little homecoming to rewrite a wrong and put a good taste in our mouth from New Orleans,” Jack said. “Because right now we remember it as the place my brother got killed by a terrorist on New Year’s.
asserted
brother → rewrite → Year
They will walk into the Superdome as proud parents, there to watch Jack return home as a member of the Raiders while living the dream he has chased since he was a kid.
asserted
he → walk → dream
And barely a mile away sits Bourbon Street.
asserted
Street → sit → ?
The place where their other son lost his life.
asserted
son → lose → life
Inside the Superdome, Marty and Michelle will celebrate Jack.
asserted
Marty → celebrate → Jack
They’ll watch their son put on an NFL uniform, run onto a field in his home state and live something he and Tiger once dreamed about together.
asserted
he → watch → something
Outside of it, only a short walk away, is the place that forever changed their family.
asserted
that → change → family
Those emotions don’t cancel each other out.
asserted
emotions → cancel → other
The joy of watching Jack doesn’t lessen the grief they carry for Tiger, just as their grief doesn’t diminish how enormously proud they are of Jack.
asserted
they → watch → Jack
They have simply learned to hold both.
asserted
They → learn → both
And maybe that is what Sunday is really about.
Not rewriting what happened in New Orleans.
asserted
what → rewrite → Orleans
Nothing can do that.
asserted
Nothing → do → that
But allowing a city connected to the worst moment of their lives to also become the backdrop for something beautiful.
asserted
city → allow → something
Nearly two years after New Orleans took on a meaning the Bech family never wanted, Marty and Michelle will return to celebrate one son while carrying the other with them.
asserted
Marty → take → them
“It’s going to be an incredibly emotional day,” Michelle said.
asserted
Michelle → go → ?
No catch, touchdown or Raiders victory can change what happened.
asserted
what → change → ?
Maybe Sunday is about making room for another memory alongside the unbearable one.
asserted
Sunday → make → one
To understand why, you have to understand Tiger.
asserted
you → understand → Tiger
“His spirit, the way he loved.
asserted
he → love → ?
The way he always fought for the people who didn’t have a voice,” Jack said.
asserted
Jack → fight → voice
“He was always the person who lit up the room.
asserted
who → light → room
Always the person who put a smile on people’s faces.
asserted
who → put → faces
Just the best big brother you could ask for.”
uncertain
you → ask → ?
As Jack put it, Tiger may have had five best friends, “but probably had a hundred people who said, ‘I’m his best friend.’”
uncertain
I → put → people
David LeBlanc, who coached both brothers at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, remembers Tiger as “one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever seen.”
asserted
I → coach → competitors
That rubbed off on Jack.
asserted
That → rub → Jack
There was competition and teasing and all the things that come with being brothers.
asserted
that → be → ?
But Tiger also saw something special in Jack, something worth pushing and prodding and occasionally testing.
asserted
Tiger → see → Jack
Sometimes he would take Jack right up to the line, challenging him in ways others might not have.
uncertain
others → take → ways
But Tiger seemed to innately understand where that line was — and, just as importantly, that his little brother could handle being taken there.
uncertain
brother → seem → ?
“There’s no question Tiger pushed Jack,” Michelle said.
asserted
Michelle → ’ → Jack
But they didn’t simply love each other.
asserted
they → love → other
They genuinely liked each other.
asserted
They → like → other
“Tiger was Jack’s hero,” Marty said.
asserted
Marty → say → ?
Which makes the randomness of how Tiger ended up in New Orleans that night even more haunting.
asserted
Tiger → make → Orleans
Tiger had brought his close friend, former Princeton teammate and
asserted
Tiger → bring → friend
…and 86 more, not listed.
The Aporia
