I understand it completely. Trying to correlate it to track athletes is not the best way to do it. It track and field there is rarely much physical contact.

Football seasons are a grind. It is not just a physical grind either. There is a mental and emotional aspect to the grind that people forget about.

Most of us can get through 90-95% of our day without needing a high level of focus. Football is the opposite. When your focus level drops in football, games or practice, it is readily apparent. And honestly, it is a good way to get hurt.

And that doesn't even take into account all of the hitting and physical contact. The human body isn't really built to be used as a battering ram, or to be on the receiving end of such treatment.

BTW, I don't agree with your assessment of the bowl game. IMO, UW wanted to win way more than BYU did. That is what you saw was a greater desire on UW's part. While UW overall probably has better athletes, and in some positions they definitely did. I did not see anything that made me think they were dramatically better athletes than BYU. What was clear to me, UW wanted it way more than BYU did. UW's execution levels were way higher than BYU and that is a direct reflection of desire, not athleticism.