Francesco Totti: An Ode to a Legend
One of the many debates within the sports world today is the argument regarding the idea of player loyalty. The latest uproar took place when Oklahoma City Thunder star small forward, Kevin Durant, threw a curve ball joining Steph Curry and the star studded Golden State Warrior team following the expiration of his contract with the Thunder. Another example of this was when the best basketball player on the planet, Lebron James, left Cleveland for Miami back in 2010 in an awkward and dramatic interview. Now, in most cases, these events of "sports treason" or "player betrayal" are only relevant when super stars are the ones involved. However, in the heart of Italy there is one man who will never fall under this category. That man is Francesco Totti. Not only is Totti a player who has dedicated his 25 year career to his boy hood club of AS Roma, he is a man who epitomizes the true essence of loyalty. Let's just say if you were to rephrase the definition of the term "clutch", Totti's name would be a good place to start. This past week, Totti reached a feat in his career many players could only dream of. On September 25th, two days before his 40th birthday, Totti netted home a penalty kick vs Torino to score his 250th Serie A goal. Not only is it an incredible accomplishment, it's one he was able to achieve with one club. After suiting up 605 times for the Giallorossi, Totti is set to hang up the boots at the end of the season, finishing off a truly magnificent career. In most cases, players who spend this much time with a club will end up giving back to the team or at the very least, display pride for the organization they spent their entire careers with. However, Totti is doing what he has done his entire career- he's going above and beyond. Once his 2016-17 contract expires with Roma, Totti will become the technical director of the club for the next six seasons. The love and dedication he has shown to the club through the duration of his career is immeasurable. It would be extremely difficult to try and find another player who is as loved by a city as Totti is by Rome. Famous slogans like "No Totti No Party" continue to flood the Stadio Olimpico every time Roma has a home game. Amongst the most memorable moments in his late career, would be his heroic two goal effort vs Torino in which he came on as a substitute in the 86th minute and scored two goals lifting Roma to a 3-2 victory. Many people who don't follow football or even Roma for that matter, would see this as simply impressive. However, one cannot truly comprehend what this man means to the entire city. Following his conversion of a penalty that gave Roma a 3-2 lead and ultimately a victory in extra time, Totti sparked a reaction from fans and Roma staff that you really had to see to believe. Luciano Spalletti, Roma's coach was seen desperately trying to hold back his tears watching the legend himself come up clutch for his team like he has so many times over the past 25 years whilst fans in the stadium were found crying and filming the historic moment. He is not just a football player in the city of Rome, he is the King. Totti has even declared that, on a number of occasions, he has been offered more money by various big clubs but has chosen to stay with the club that has forever owned his heart. With the world of football continuously developing into a multi billion dollar industry, it's hard to imagine that there will ever be a player like Francesco Totti who not only dedicated his career, but his entire life to one club.
