"NFL players don't have many allies outside the locker room.

Maybe an assistant trainer or one of the guys in the equipment room who will throw you some gear to give to your little brother at the next home game.

Besides that, well, you are pretty much on your own. Take the coaching (even if you don't agree) and try to work through the game plan come Sundays.

However, there are those rare cases in the NFL where a player builds an extraordinary relationship with his position coaches, a working relationship on the field and in the classroom when a veteran buys into everything his coach is selling."