Gail Carter-Cade, a Jacksonville-based author specializing in healing and emotional resilience, has written a poem dedicated to the Jacksonville Jaguars that seeks to address the psychological impact of athletic losses. The poem emerged from her family's experience at a recent away game in Nashville, Tennessee, where they observed players avoiding eye contact after a defeat.
Carter-Cade, a self-described die-hard Jaguars fan who travels to at least one away game annually with her family, noted that the players' visible disappointment prompted her to consider the deeper emotional consequences of losing. "After a loss, athletes don't just feel physical pain. They feel grief," she explained. This observation aligns with psychological research indicating that athletes frequently experience emotional fallout including sadness, shame, anger, and self-doubt following losses.
According to an article from Psychology Today, "athletes often experience deep emotional fallout after losses, including sadness, shame, anger, fear of disappointing others, self-doubt, anxiety, and loss of confidence." Carter-Cade's poem, which she shared on platforms including YouTube, attempts to make these invisible struggles visible to fans while reframing loss as feedback rather than failure.
"A pro doesn't avoid losses," Carter-Cade said. "They respond to them. What matters is the growth mindset — what they learn, how they practice, and how they show up next time." Her poem includes lines like "We didn't win the game/But next time we will reclaim" and emphasizes collective commitment with "We win, we lose together, and stay committed."
The author, who has published work including Uplifting The Pain By Fostering Growth Mindset Through Poetry Now on Amazon, aims to bridge the gap between athletes' internal experiences and fan expectations. "I wrote this poem to let athletes know how they feel matters — and to let fans understand the emotional toll of the game," she stated. "In this way, we can truly uplift the pain."
This initiative matters because it addresses a significant but often ignored aspect of professional sports: the mental health and emotional well-being of athletes. While physical injuries receive immediate attention, psychological impacts from performance pressure and public scrutiny frequently go unaddressed. Carter-Cade's approach encourages a more compassionate fan culture that recognizes athletes' humanity beyond their statistics.
The implications extend beyond football to all competitive environments where performance is publicly evaluated. By promoting what she calls a "growth mindset," Carter-Cade's work could influence how coaches, parents, and communities support athletes at all levels. Her message that "the scoreboard doesn't measure Trevor Lawrence's character or work ethic" challenges reductionist evaluations of athletic performance.
Carter-Cade hopes Florida will embrace this perspective not just for the Jaguars but for all individuals facing silent disappointment. The poem's availability through various channels, including Barnes and Noble, suggests potential for broader application in educational and developmental contexts where resilience building is crucial.
