When the shortlist of contenders for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was announced last month, many were outraged that Jermain Defoe was not on it.
He deserved recognition, those campaigning on his behalf insisted, because of the heartbreakingly touching friendship and compassion he had shown to Bradley Lowery, a brave little boy who was dying of a rare form of cancer.
Defoe did not join the chorus of resentment. He was grateful for what people were saying about him but that was as far as it went.
‘If Bradley’s family were happy with what I did that’s enough for me,’ he says. ‘God sees everything. Look, if I won the Sports Personality of the Year and I’m standing there with a trophy, it’s not going to bring Bradley back.’
