Gately watches the punter: blubbering at the loss of organized ball
he found himself blubbering at the loss of organized ball, his one gift and other love, his own stupidity and lack of discipline
Context
The body-as-squandered-gift stated outright. Watching the punter, Gately breaks down "at the loss of organized ball, his one gift and other love, his own stupidity and lack of discipline" — the athletic talent named plainly as a gift, and its loss as self-inflicted, a failure of the exact discipline E.T.A. and every coach preach. This is the seam's whole athletic-body freight: the ruined career mourned as a body-gift thrown away. (The addiction that threw it away is addiction-recovery's; the gift and its loss are ours.)