Thierry Henry: So good even rivals can love him

Kevin McCauley is one of the soccer editors here at SB Nation. He's a self professed Tottenham Hotspur and D.C. United fan. This of course means he must hate Thierry Henry for his time with Arsenal and the New York Red Bulls. Except, a weird thing happened along the way, he learned to love the Frenchman. I'll let you go over to his piece to get the full run down, but I wanted to highlight certain parts of the article.

I didn't appreciate Henry's talents because I was too obsessed with hating him. Partially because adolescent boys tend to be very angry about things and partially because showing how much you hate your adopted team's rival is part of being accepted as a new fan of that team, I was completely unwilling to appreciate this marvel of athleticism, technical skill and intelligence that made Tottenham look like amateurs every season.

Then he signed on to play for New York Red Bulls, the biggest rivals of my new adopted hometown MLS side D.C. United, where he'd become teammates with Rafael Marquez, perhaps American soccer's greatest ever 'rasslin heel masquerading as a footballer. I had every reason to hate Henry again!

I have to say, Rafa Marquez would ABSOLUTELY be a great heel wrestler. He could even follow in the footsteps of Alberto Del Rio, and a manager/valet for him would just add to everything

For the first time in my life, I thought Henry's wondergoals and superwonderassists were something worth appreciating.

If a D.C. United & Arsenal fan can learn to love Henry, anyone can.