Football can be a cruel master, but it can also provide the sweetest taste of redemption there is.
In big games or moments players are human and falter, sometimes costing their side a premiership. But the players that respond the best are the ones whose stories shine the brightest.
Some players' mistakes happen off the field, besmirching their name. But again, football gives them light at the end of the tunnel and a path back for them to show their true character.
So which stories in recent memory have the best redemption arc?
3Marlion Pickett
Consecutive stories from Tigerland as Pickett comfortably sits within the best ever stories of redemption the league has seen.
Having spent over two years in jail in his early 20s, Pickett returned to football and dominated for WAFL club South Fremantle. Pickett was then selected with pick 13 in the 2019 mid-season draft after veteran Shaun Grigg retired mid-year.
At 25, Pickett proceeded to star for Richmond in the VFL and famously won best-on-ground for the Tigers in the VFL grand final before becoming just the sixth player to debut in the AFL grand final a week later.
On the biggest stage of all, Pickett showed he belonged as Richmond thrashed GWS in a one-sided decider.
His turn and spin coming out of a centre bounce is a memory etched into every football lover's brain.
The whole of 2019 can be argued as Pickett's redemption as he proved that hard work and determination can help get your life back on track.
