You know what they say — there's no crying in football. But good god there's a shit ton of tears in reality television. This was evidenced by last night's episode of The Bachelorette, when a former Detroit Lion's player was faced with a broken wrist and a broken heart.
If you're not hip to ABC's quest for romance reality show The Bachelorette, now its exhaustive 14th season, it's cool. Neither are we, really. But when a former Detroit Lions tight end gets unironically injured while playing a casual football game on a reality show to vie for the love of his potential future bride Becca Kufrin, well, we are forced to pay attention.
Clay Harbor, a 30-year-old Missouri native, played for the Detroit Lions for a partial season in 2016. He sustained an injury while playing for the New Orleans Saints and has since been placed on reserve while he recovers. He loves hip-hop and country music and is not a farmer (according to the intimate details revealed in his official 'Meet Clay' video). Thanks to a friendly game of tackle football against his Bachelorette competition, he may be on the bench a while longer.
After an already shit-show of an episode (one contestant came clean and addressed the fact that he previously dated Becca's bestie, one guy woke up in a pool of blood after falling out of his bunk bed, and someone interrupted Becca's one-on-one date in their underwear), the second date was a tackle football game among contestants. Easy enough, considering Harbor's NFL status. Though he led the "Blue Team" to a tie victory (so, they didn't win) during the final play of the game, Harbor took a hard fall that ultimately shattered his wrist.
"I'm finally finding a spark with Clay," Becca says moments before Harbor makes his early departure, "and I like it."
Though Harbor believes he was possibly starting to catch feelings for the bachelorette, he regrettably reveals that his broken wrist requires immediate surgery to preserve his future football career.
I want to thank everyone for the love and support! Definitely the hardest decision I’ve ever made but I believe everything happens for a reason. I am working hard to get back on the field and turn this negative into a positive.
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) June 12, 2018
"I 100 percent think I could have fallen in love with Becca," Harbor says tearfully, "but being a man is about making hard choices and tough decisions."
Watch the tearful, very sincere goodbye below:
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