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What Is the Meaning of Life?

By Eric Cantona, The Players Tribune, 10/16/18, 12:00PM PDT

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When people ask me why I played football the way I did, this is the answer. Football gives meaning to life, yes. But life also gives meaning to football.

Football gives meaning to your life. I really believe this. But your life, your history, your essence, also gives meaning to your football. I am going to talk about some things that I almost never discuss. I need to tell you a story that shaped everything that I am. It happened before I was even born.

We have to go back to 1939, during the Spanish Civil War. My maternal grandfather was from Barcelona, and he fought against the dictator Franco until the bitter end. At the very end of the war, he was a wanted man, and he only had a few minutes to make an escape before the Nationalist soldiers captured the city.