Michael Wilbon took very little time getting back to what he does best — using his longtime outlet, The Washington Post, to tell a story. This time around, he is the subject of his own article. From his home in Arizona, Wilbon describes one of the more humbling experiences of his life that occurred this week as he was set to cover Super Bowl XLII –

I landed in Phoenix late Sunday night, drove to my home-away-from-D.C.-home in Scottsdale, looked at some e-mail, and went to bed at 1:30. At 3:15 a heavy pain in my left arm and on the left side of my chest woke me. I thought it was indigestion, and started drinking water, but the pain persisted. Took some Advil. The pain got worse. Tried to go back to bed, but it became unbearable. They were classic heart-attack symptoms, the pain up and down the left arm and in the upper-left chest, stuff you see on TV dramas and sitcoms. It was after 15 minutes of denial that I woke my wife and told her: “I know this sounds insane, but we’ve got to drive to the emergency room. I’m having a heart attack.”

He goes on to explain the important work ethic his father instilled in he and his brother — that you don’t miss work, ever — and how he never missed any big assignment due to illness until just this week. But with the scare of his life, he knew that after he was treated, although his dad’s advice had helped him reach his great successes, he knew that he needed to slow down and take a step back –

“I believe in that work ethic wholly, the fact was this was a permissible exception, make that a mandatory exception. And I had any number of people, some friends and some professional associates and many who are both, drive that point home, that I needed to smarten up and look at life differently from here on out.”

And one of the first things he describes as looking at differently came as he was recovering Monday night in his hospital bed. As he received gifts and phone calls in support from friends across the sporting world, none was more shocking, and humbling, as the ones from two people he criticized most during his career as a sports writer. Rather than try to break it down on my own, I will leave it to Wilbon’s words to explain –

But two things left me speechless and of a mind to reevaluate a lot of stuff. The phone rang while I was in my hospital bed Monday night and the voice on the other end said: “This is Jeff George. I was calling to tell you I’m thinking of you and praying for you.” Yep, Jeff George. No. 3 in your program. For years and years, especially during his brief time in D.C., I was pointedly critical of George. I’m sure some of it was over the top and unnecessary. Yet he was big enough to put that aside and call with get-well wishes. He told me about his father having a heart attack when he was about my age, 49, about lifestyle changes and how families respond with support.

George sounded like an expert on the topic and on recovery. He talked and I listened.

I’ve also, in this space and on TV, been pointedly critical of Kobe Bryant. Yet, I answered the doorbell Wednesday and there were flowers and balloons from Kobe wishing me a quick return to my duties. I hope I have the grace to extend myself to someone who might offer a public rebuke of my work.

The lesson learned is probably that a bad pass on third and 12, a missed jump shot at the buzzer or even a prolonged disagreement with a teammate doesn’t make that the dominant theme of a man’s life. It’s not like I won’t make a critical observation about Kobe in the playoffs, if necessary, just that such comments ought to be expressed in context and not cavalierly used to form larger judgments about a person’s life. At the very least there ought to be an acknowledgment of a sense of compassion and humanity that aren’t to be taken for granted.

There’s also an obligation on my part to take all this support and advice and make the necessary changes that will enable me to get out of bed and be a producer again, a more responsible one who can go to work with the consistency of Cal Ripken and also understand the need for better health and a more balanced life. As Jeff George said in our conversation the other night: “This is definitely manageable. And you’ll do it. But it doesn’t mean you’re in total control. This whole thing should help you learn the difference.”

As one of the more recognizable sports columnists/analysts in the nation, Wilbon is also easily one of the most likable. Even as he spars with longtime friend and colleague, Tony Kornheiser, nightly on one of ESPN’s more popular shows, PTI, Wilbon is refreshingly honest and playful. Beneath his resilient exterior, we realize that in this recent event, there is more to Wilbon that we ever could have known otherwise.

It takes a strong man to admit to mistakes he may have made throughout his professional life. It takes an even more defiantly strong man to be back on the job merely days after a scare of a lifetime.