By Ryan Mayer, CBS Local Sports

Football is a brutal sport that brings out the most aggressive parts of the human personality in every player and coach. The desire to win can lead to ugly incidents at times on the field and off of it. However, at the end of the day football players are all part of the same brotherhood of elite athletes that compete at the upper echelons of the sport.

Nowhere was that spirit of brotherhood more apparent than in a letter sent this week by Duke University head football coach David Cutcliffe to University of Pittsburgh running back James Conner. The two schools both play in the ACC Coastal division and will meet later on this season. Conner is the star running back for the Panthers, but he’s out for the season following an ACL tear he sustained in Week 1. Coach Cutcliffe reached out to Conner with the following note:

Thank you coach @DavidCutcliffe and @Duke_FB for the well wishes! Means a lot I appreciate it! pic.twitter.com/2VuHRBGdjc — James Conner ️ (@JamesConner_) September 15, 2015

You don’t hear about many letters like that being sent, and to see that type of sentiment sent to a division rival is certainly impressive. Well done by Coach Cutcliffe and good luck to Conner in his recovery from surgery.