Karen Crouse reported today in The New York Times about the comeback story of Super Bowl bound Anthony Hargrove, a defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints.

During the N.F.C. championship game, Hargrove was a jackhammer in Favre’s side. He leveled Favre in the third quarter, incurring a personal foul and a subsequent fine from the league. As Favre rose to his feet, he said to Hargrove, “Is that all you have, little man?”

The [Transitions Recovery Program] rehabilitation center was Hargrove’s home for 10 months after the N.F.L. suspended him for the 2008 season for his third violation of the league’s drug policy.

The turning point came when his counselor, Vernon Martin, asked him to write a three-page goodbye letter to his parents.

“Six pages, back and front, I wrote, and I was bawling as I did it,” Hargrove said. “When I was done, it felt like 130 pounds was lifted off my shoulders. It hit me then that I had a lot of feelings I hadn’t dealt with.

“The stuff I had to say to my mom was all loving, but there was also so much remorse and pain that I had and guilt and shame and even anger. And writing about my dad, I’ve always told myself how much I loved him and forgave him, but I really didn’t. I hated him so much. I had nothing but anger towards him on that paper.”

After completing the mandated three-month program, Hargrove chose to stay seven more months. He stripped the varnish from his world in daily therapy sessions and worked out regularly with another counselor, Luis Gonzalez, who is 52 and in his 13th year of sobriety.