To encourage her son's aptitude for math, Urschel's mother would allow him to keep the change from shop visits if he could calculate it faster than the shopkeeper. What’s the likelihood of an NFL player quitting football to pursue a PhD? In Somerville, Massachusetts, Robert Ito speaks to the offensive lineman-turned-mathematician who could calculate the exact probability—and hears about what it’s like when your career goal switches from getting touchdowns and being picked as a first-season starter to dreams of peer review publication and a professorship. On July 27, 2017, John Urschel, an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, announced his retirement from football. Only three years into This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Five Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 26 The Sporting Life An American fashion editor swaps New York high-rise for British pastoral. Arts & Culture Issue 26 Sport: Proxy Warriors Athletes are champions on the field, and of larger issues on the world stage. Arts & Culture Issue 26 Sport: Silence & Word Play Athletes are champions on the field, and of larger issues on the world stage. Arts & Culture Issue 26 Sport: Gender Gaps Athletes are champions on the field, and of larger issues on the world stage. Arts & Culture Issue 26 Close Contact Tactile. Physical. Corporeal: Sport as a liberating force for the body. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts.
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Arts & Culture Issue 26 Close Contact Tactile. Physical. Corporeal: Sport as a liberating force for the body.
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