Breaking the Huddle: Into Another Circle

A ten-year NFL veteran and a cornerstone of the Los Angeles Chargers, Soledad was no stranger to pressure. Cameras, crowds, expectations they had followed her for a decade. Yet she moved through it all untouched by spectacle. No social media. No curated image. She had created an account once, but it remained unused for ten years, until the end of the year changed everything.

A trust she had formed with a teammate before the season began altered the course of her life. Slowly, her world narrowed. Her bubble closed. Friends drifted away. She lost her biological mother. And somewhere in that unraveling, she lost herself too.