Comments on: Alex Mack played Sunday with appendicitis

By: granadafan

granadafan — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:44:03 +0000

Alex Mack is fast becoming one of the best centers in football behind Nick Mangold. His toughness cannot be questioned. Get better, Mack!

By: preludetosmack

preludetosmack — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:10:18 +0000

And to back-up @beelicker even more..

I was vomiting from the pain by the time I went to the hospital… once they palpated my abdomen the pain increased 10-fold (even though they had already administered morphine prior to the palpatation… this pain laughed at morphine).

After they poked/prodded on my abdomen I couldn’t breathe from the pain.

I was in pretty bad shape by that time since it had been almost 24 hours since symptoms started.

For a variety of reasons my surgery was then delayed by about 6 hours (they got me medicated to where I was able to sleep before the surgery).

By: preludetosmack

preludetosmack — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:01:31 +0000

I’m no football player, but I logged a 12 hour work day in discomfort, 6 hours at home doing various home improvements in pain, then spending a few hours in bed and 2 hours laying on a cold ceramic tile floor in pain before I started vomiting from the pain (I realized something was terribly wrong about the time I went to the tile floor).

Appendicitis developes into some of the worst pain you can have, but it doesn’t come all at once. For most of the workday I just thought I had bad gas pains or that I had eaten something that was bad.

Trust me, the pain he was probably feeling by the time he went to the hospital would have kept him off of the field.

By: beelicker

beelicker — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:08:42 +0000

Pain from appendicitis feels like lots of other gastrointestinal maladies & GRADUALLY escalates to a point to where you just can’t ignore that something else is probably going on.

Even then until an examiner would palpate the abdomen in the region of the organ (to rule it out) would one necessarily surmise what’s what. The pain generally is NOT that overwhelmingly intense that you wouldn’t just think it could be ‘gas’ until you get along to the critical stages. Plus, this population is also quite practiced at managing/ignoring pain to begin with …

By: iamthorny

iamthorny — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:26:02 +0000

Peyton Hills said, “That was nothing I played a game 7 days removed from strep.”

By: godofwine330

godofwine330 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:22:59 +0000

I don’t have any less respect for Hillis as I shouldn’t. The man lost 12 pounds in less than a week. I would have to reserve judgement on whether I have more respect for Mack when the tape is reviewed and his performance is graded, but it was pretty tough of him to do. I know the fans and the media often get to confused thinking that football players and other athletes are gladiators and not people, sometimes the biggest and most important road to make is the road not taken (Two Roads Diverged In A Yellow Wood)

Alex Mack may have died or caused irreparable harm to himself by playing through an appendicitis attack. Hillis could have caused irreparable harm to himself AND could have played and been totally ineffective and we lost.

Players have to take care of themselves. Each one of us has a different pain tolerence. People need to realize this and that one of these things is not like the other, and just because one player plays through pain and another one can’t doesn’t mean that that player doesn’t want to or doesn’t love the game as much. .

By: td40

td40 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:28:41 +0000

“Mack’s handling of his business in this manner surely will reinforce the belief (as reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN on Sunday) held by some in the locker room that Hillis’ failure to play was influenced by his contract situation.”

Or at least you really hope so.

God, does this site like to stir up the crap and try to make “controversial” stories out of *nothing.*

By: esposito35

esposito35 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:53:54 +0000

Playing and playing hard are 2 different things…Cleveland,no?

By: coolzog

coolzog — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:53:38 +0000

At least it wasn’t another Staph infection that the Browns seem to be notorious for…

By: packerrube13

packerrube13 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:35:45 +0000

I think if Joe Mauer heard the word Apendicitis, he would miss a week of play.

By: nickwillis99

nickwillis99 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:52:33 +0000

This makes me gain respect for Alex Mack, but I still don’t think less of Hillis. The Madden cover boy lost 12 lbs in less than a week!!! Are you kidding me?! Football players are tough, but Hillis isn’t an overcompensater that feels the need to show up and have some terrible 1.0 YPC performance to get the public’s sympathy and broadcasters bragging about how they admire his will to try.

By: cup1981

cup1981 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:46:44 +0000

One word sums that up, BALLS!!! And this is coming from a lifelong Pittsburgh fan!

By: xpensivewinos

xpensivewinos — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:44:17 +0000

So we can surmise that Hillis is a puss based on the fact that Mack is too dumb to know what he had or that he shouldn’t be playing?

Got it.

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:38:56 +0000

If he played for the Cowboys, they would have said his appendix burst on the sidelines, which he then duct taped back together, and then proceeded to literally carry the entire team on his back down the field.

While signing autographs.

By: ham1

ham1 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:37:07 +0000

Heck of a display of courage.
No pandering to the media.
Just palyed. Surgery the next day. Wow

By: doe22us

doe22us — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:35:58 +0000

I personally i never bought into the Hillis hype, he seems to have slowed down a bit and the season just started.

By: mikeheruki

mikeheruki — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:27:28 +0000

That’s borderline crazy. Thing is you take it for granted because it feels like the flu. I have a good friend who said he had the “stomach flu” until he collapsed at work because his appendix burst. He was lucky.

By: dixon29

dixon29 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:27:12 +0000

Quit with the conspiracy theories about Peyton’s contract already! The guy lost 12 pounds in a week and couldn’t play. From all I read Mack didn’t really feel too badly until late Sunday night. I commend him for playing through it but I sure don’t damn Hillis for not playing through his illness.

By: iflounder

iflounder — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:16:09 +0000

yeah but, does mack have a delicious penis like hillis does?

By: Ricardo Grande

Ricardo Grande — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:14:22 +0000

Rumor-mongering by two “journalists,” whose greatest professional fear is the possibility of breaking a manicured fingernail on a keyboard.

You’re ridiculous.

By: howiefeltersnatch

howiefeltersnatch — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:09:09 +0000

I’ve had both and full blown strep is way worse than the first day of potential appendicitis. Our bruiser lost 10-15lbs when he had strep.

I just don’t see how sitting your best player for most of the game shows him up for pouting about his contract. If anything I would have given him 40 carries instead.

By: orakpownd

orakpownd — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:07:28 +0000

like a boss.

By: jhart615

jhart615 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:03:30 +0000

I understand being tough and playing through the pain…but seriously? Playing through that is just stupid and could jeopardize your career. I respect him playing through it but you gatta know when to be smart about it

By: gcsuk

gcsuk — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:03:04 +0000

Think this would happen in baseball?

By: jimmysee

jimmysee — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:58:21 +0000

That’s a failure by team medical personnel. He should never have been cleared to take the field.