Over the last three years, Ra’Shede Hageman spent a night in prison for domestic violence. He started in a Super Bowl and then was cut, and as part of his community service, for more than 110 hours, he prepared meals for the homeless. He drove drunk. He checked his mother into a psych ward. He tried to become an Amway salesman. He dunked his head in a pool of sacred water and was born once more. And, just a few weeks ago, he was rehired by the team that cut him.



Maybe none of it should have been surprising, given the unspeakable atrocities in his past, and given the way he took so many gifts for granted. Hageman has gone back to the city where his NFL career began, but he knows he never can revert to his old ways. Now, it’s about making peace with the spirits who came before, and those yet to be born. It’s about trying to finally get it right. It’s about seeking atonement.



Hageman, the Falcons’ second-round pick in 2014, started out...