Comments on: Jason Taylor shines light on pain players go through

By: raiderapologist

raiderapologist — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:11:20 +0000

Football isn’t the only profession that puts employees at risk of life and limb, but it is one of the most lucrative. I don’t understand all the hand-wringing.

By: thebigtim2012

thebigtim2012 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:04:22 +0000

For every junior seau there’s a Rodney Harrison it’s weird how some brains handle repeated trauma better than others

By: bobzilla1001

bobzilla1001 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:07:05 +0000

There ought to be size restrictions on players and a limit to how long players can play.
Anyone (Junior Seau) who spends 20 years playing professional football is only asking for trouble. Professional sports were never meant to be played until the participants were eligible for a gold watch. Athletes should be forced to retire after 10 years, tops.

By: dretwann

dretwann — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:35:55 +0000

stigman2012, that particular tort requires one to know the risk they are assuming. It has yet to be proven that the players of the 70s, 80s, 90s or even early 2000 knew the long term risk. I point to the cases involving the popcorn makers. The companies knew the risks but failed to educate the work force (thereby allowing them to make an informed decision) and failed to take appropriate measures to prevent or minimize the risks. Subsequently, those companies are losing millions in lawsuits due to the injuries suffered by employees. You have to know the risk before you can be held accountable for accepting it.

That logic applies here. We just only begun to learn the long term ramifications of concussions. How can we logically say then that the players assumed the risk of their brains going to mush when they didn’t even know it was possible then? We aren’t talking about current players. We are talking about players 7,8,9 plus years retired. With the info available today, you could say the CURRENT AND FUTURE players assume the risk, but this can’t be retroactive to the older crew.

By: steelerben

steelerben — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:13:10 +0000

The NFL is at the top tier of a sport that funnels from every little town and county in the country. You start with thousands of Pop Warner teams, and then you cut down to high school teams, then college, and finally the pros. These are not men that have achieved the highest level by sitting on the sideline or by having a lack of competitiveness.

You see this across the board, not just football. I watched my *little sister* a *ballerina* come home from practice and peel off toenails while her feet bled. She danced with a stress fracture in her spine for months by eating a steady diet of Advil.

When there are tens of thousands of people looking to get one of 1696 jobs, you can’t afford to be known as the guy that took himself out of a game because it was bruised, even though he was unable to lift a football above his shoulder without serious pain medication. You don’t want to take yourself out of the game when you’ve torn your LCL and you manage to rip your ACL as well, because we can call that field conditions.

If not even the FANS can understand that injured players shouldn’t be on the field, how are you going to convince the coach whose next 3.5 million dollars hinges on sending that kid out to think twice?

By: dylanssongwriter

dylanssongwriter — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:11:50 +0000

I read a good chunk of the piece on Jason Taylor and came away thinking Jason Taylor is stupid. That might sound harsh, but they guy has a family and career to worry about…..use your head and think for yourself nfl players

By: titogetmesometissue

titogetmesometissue — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:08:13 +0000

Well, except for Christian Ponder. He certainly is not afraid to take himself out of a playoff game so he doesn’t aggravate a bruised arm.

By: daddyb1gdrawz

daddyb1gdrawz — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:59:39 +0000

This was a demonstrative piece of journalism by LeBatard. Really brought to light a sobering reality of the pains players go through. I will never question why a player is not performing up to his level again without considering injury.

By: helix828

helix828 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:33:10 +0000

What an amazing article. In another time, these guys would be kings or generals leading armies onto ancient battlefields.

By: bearsman

bearsman — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:22:36 +0000

This is why players need more accountability then what they have done with all these lawsuits. It’s part of there fault too. No makes them play. Try tackling instead of hitting head first.

By: CKL

CKL — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:20:09 +0000

That was chilling. Add to it that JT is NOT a man who needed the NFL to be successful in life as he is quite smart and good looking. But yet…he went through all this to play.

I think Brady (and other players in the past have said similar things) said it pretty well the other day, there’s really nothing else like it, no substitute for what players who love the game get out of it.

By: FinFan68

FinFan68 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:12:05 +0000

Until they can protect players from themselves, there’s only so much they’ll ever be able to do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why should they have to protect players from themselves? People are responsible for their own actions. The reasons given are merely excuses for minimizing poor decisions. It is not the NFL’s fault that players lie about injuries. It is the players’ fault. They are either afraid of being out of the spotlight, afraid of losing their job to the next guy up or afraid of being viewed as soft or letting their teammates down. When a player fights through injury to get back on the field (when they are obviously not the best option) it is much closer to cowardice than courage but that’s not how it is viewed. We/the media put them on pedestals until something goes wrong and then we blame somebody else because the players are “heroes”.

By: nyjetsfan08

nyjetsfan08 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:05:35 +0000

It’s like someone asking you, “I’ll pay you 10 million dollars, but you’ll be at great risk for leg amputation, you want in?”

HELL YES! I think some people would take that bet. And that’s what these NFL players do. I think part of it is the desire to compete, to win, to be there with your brothers, probably not that all different from those in the military who want to go back to war or — to really stretch it futher — victims feeling comfortable with their kidnappers. I think a big part of it, maybe when they get to the NFL, is the money. The guys that last a long time in this league are motivated by more than money, however.

By: stigman2012

stigman2012 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:03:55 +0000

This was an excellent read. I think Taylor’s story demonstrates why the NFL player lawsuits about concussions will ultimately fail. In tort law there is a concept called ‘assumption of the risk’. These guys, for as crazy as they may be, eagerly assume the risks just to get back out there for one more season, one more game, one more hit. They all know there are risks of serious and possibly permanent injury long before they sign that first contract.

I’m all for the NFL doing more to provide health insurance to players past and present, but I think there is too great of an expectation on the league in terms of player safety. You have OSHA that regulates industries to make working environments safer, but can never eliminate all risk. The NFL can and should encourage all the technological advances in the equipment possible. However, at the end of the day, this is a game played very roughly by very big men.

They’ve assumed the risk.

By: mike83ri

mike83ri — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:58:58 +0000

How many players have admitted to lying to teams about injuries, then go on to sue the league for “forcing them to play” despite the dangers of playing through said injuries?

By: usmutts

usmutts — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:58:31 +0000

I read the first page of LeBetard’s article and the descriptions of Taylor’s ordeals with just his feet were so gruesome that I could not continue reading.

Those of you who say unfeeling, ignorant things like “that’s why he gets paid the big bucks” are as disgraceful to humanity as those who cheer and celebrate when a player lies injured on the field.

By: cornersss

cornersss — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:56:21 +0000

but this is why i think the play lawsuits is a shame.

I think the nfl should pay for players healthcare,especially older players before free agency.

After that though it was mutual for player and the teams to get the player back on the field asap,even if injured.
So i dont buy into the players were duped and didn’t know about concussions.

Smelling salts were made famous

By: nomesayin

nomesayin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:56:07 +0000

What a great piece, Gantt

By: ccjcsr

ccjcsr — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:54:17 +0000

The price of financial security

By: Stupid Raiders Fan

Stupid Raiders Fan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:53:45 +0000

it’s funny how these players only trust Dr. James Andrews. It’s like he’s the only person with a medical degree in their minds.

By: ghosts go boo

ghosts go boo — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:50:29 +0000

Send this article to Jay Cutler. He needs to see what a real football looks like!

By: tdk24

tdk24 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:48:28 +0000

That’s why they get the big bucks!

By: cornersss

cornersss — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:48:06 +0000

What do people think trainers are doing when a players gets injured, and the trainer is rubbing under his shoulder pads or his thigh or calf? The player jumps up as if he wasnt even hurt a few minutes later. The price is paid later of course to play now.

By: len462

len462 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:46:46 +0000

Ronnie Lott would have had the leg amputated so he could get back quicker. Players were tougher back then.

By: wpkiessling

wpkiessling — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:39:01 +0000

Every football fan should read “Dark Side of the Game” by Tim Green

By: granadafan

granadafan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:38:22 +0000

Owners and coaches are also to blame for pushing players to be the best they can be and give 100% each time. Players also know they’ll lose their jobs if they go out for extended periods of time. What makes players great and being able to reach the highest league and play at a high level is the drive to compete. That’s what they do. It’s like race car drivers at unsafe race tracks. As competitors, they’re SUPPOSED to go all out and as fast as they can. Their team demands, the owner demands it, the sport demands it, the fans demand it, and they themselves demand it.