This article is a detailed look at all the pain associated with being a "warrior." Crazy.
Taylor
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that story just made me want to stop supporting this game. these guys are nuts.
No one forced him to play.
quote:. He developed a staph infection that required that catheter to run from armpit to heart with antibiotics. Heâd hook himself up to it for a half-hour a day, like a car getting gas, letting the balls of medicine roll into his body.
Then he concealed the catheter in tape under his arm so that an opponent wouldnât know he was weak. Opponents will find your weakness, At the bottom of a fumble pile, a Buffalo Bills player once squeezed the hell out of Taylorâs Adamâs Apple to try and dislodge the football. Anything you read about the PICC line catheter (peripherally inserted central catheter) Taylor used will tell you to avoid swimming or weightlifting or anything that might get it dirty or sweaty. Taylor was playing with it in for weeks while colliding in the most violent of contact sports. Doctors told him it wasnât a good idea to play with it in. He ignored them.
Reading that article, there is also a whole lot of DUM DUM Taylor put upon himself and did himself no favors either. I get the whole warrior crap but when you decide against doctors advice to run around the field with a PICC line inside you that isn't being heroic or being a man's man.
It's incredibly stupid. He had kids and family to think about.
Very little IMO to admire here.
How about the toll taken by Betty?! Now THERE is a warrior.
Pretty harsh stuff Taylor put himself through. That's the key though, he put himself through it. I don't have any sympathy for him or any other player that puts themselves through this.
Makes the opening scene of North Dallas Forty seem like a picnic. What the hell man?
quote:Originally posted by GBFanForLife:
No one forced him to play.
This. No sympathy from me. And why did he hang on so long when it was clear his skills had declined? $$$$$ only??
quote:Originally posted by GBFanForLife:
No one forced him to play.
Totally agree!!
If Joe Philbin learned anything from MM, he will have those ridiculous quotes by Marino and Taylor removed from the training room. Nothing like creating a environment for young players where you feel shame for being hurt. Stoopid.
Obviously it's crazy and I wouldn't do it, but I don't feel too bad for them in terms of the orthopaedic injuries because they know what they are doing and are mentally competent to make the decision. Many people have occupations that leave them susceptible to severe and/or debilitating injuries - soldiers are the most obvious and severe, but construction workers and farmers are two other examples.
However, where I really have trouble is the concussion issue. It's obviously not great to have to walk with a cane in your 60s or to have knee and hip replacements, but it doesn't fundamental change who you are as a person. You still talk to your kids, enjoy your grandkids, etc.
On the other hand, the CTE symptoms are awful and anyone who has had a loved one with Alzheimers' or other type of dementia wouldn't wish it on anyone. I love watching football, but I feel really morally conflicted on this part of it.
However, where I really have trouble is the concussion issue. It's obviously not great to have to walk with a cane in your 60s or to have knee and hip replacements, but it doesn't fundamental change who you are as a person. You still talk to your kids, enjoy your grandkids, etc.
On the other hand, the CTE symptoms are awful and anyone who has had a loved one with Alzheimers' or other type of dementia wouldn't wish it on anyone. I love watching football, but I feel really morally conflicted on this part of it.
quote:No one forced him to play.
This was quoted more than once. To those who said it I ask, how can you be so sure? With a years-long background culture of coaches, assistants, doctors and trainers, etc., whose first concern seems the team not the individual, the next three-hour game rather than the rest of one's life -- and added into that is a raft of modern painkiller drugs whose emotional/mental effects are probably only sketchily known if at all but who seem to offer a three-hour "out" and I'm not going to vouch for anyone's mental state or for what it may do to their character or good sense.
Saying no one forced him to play seems to me a nice simple statement that dismisses the problem by putting all the blame on a person who, it seems to me, can be considered at least partly a victim.
quote:Originally posted by GBFanForLife:
No one forced him to play.
...and he got paid damn well!
This is why we watch because very few people on the planet can (or will) do the job.
I spose someone forced him to do Dancing With The Stars too.
Wonder how much he shot up for that gig?
quote:Originally posted by ammo:
Wonder how much he shot up for that gig?
Did it involve Viagra, or was she already talented enough?
quote:Originally posted by Boris:quote:Originally posted by GBFanForLife:
No one forced him to play.
...and he got paid damn well!
This is why we watch because very few people on the planet can (or will) do the job.
And if I could do the job I'd be there tomorrow ready to sacrifice my body for a chance at fame and fortune knowing full well the risk I was taking.
I've had a PICC line, and it is no fun. I cannot imagine playing football, or any other sport, with one. And I agree that the concussion issue is a different issue because a brain cannot be replaced.
The part that bothers me is when guys look down on players who are being somewhat sensible. (No one who willingly does this to himself is being totally sensible.) If he's hurt, it should be okay to be in the trainer's room. Some part of the culture has to change; the teams, players, coaches, etc., must realize that a guy has more life ahead of him when he quits the field than what has already gone by.
The part that bothers me is when guys look down on players who are being somewhat sensible. (No one who willingly does this to himself is being totally sensible.) If he's hurt, it should be okay to be in the trainer's room. Some part of the culture has to change; the teams, players, coaches, etc., must realize that a guy has more life ahead of him when he quits the field than what has already gone by.
What a moron. His insistance on playing with those injuries only caused his problems to compound with further injuries. If he would have sat out for a game or two here and there instead of trying to be a "warrior" with the most serious issues, he would have had far fewer problems over the course of his career. That's day one stuff in sports medicine.
quote:Originally posted by Schaap:
Makes the opening scene of North Dallas Forty seem like a picnic. What the hell man?
I was also thinking of that movie when I read the article.
Very gray line in this "performance enhancing" thing.
quote:Originally posted by Fountainfox:quote:No one forced him to play.
This was quoted more than once. To those who said it I ask, how can you be so sure? With a years-long background culture of coaches, assistants, doctors and trainers, etc., whose first concern seems the team not the individual, the next three-hour game rather than the rest of one's life -- and added into that is a raft of modern painkiller drugs whose emotional/mental effects are probably only sketchily known if at all but who seem to offer a three-hour "out" and I'm not going to vouch for anyone's mental state or for what it may do to their character or good sense.
Saying no one forced him to play seems to me a nice simple statement that dismisses the problem by putting all the blame on a person who, it seems to me, can be considered at least partly a victim.
They kept him chained up in the locker room.
Inside the training room they stuck a gun to his head & forced him on the field.
This is why you get paid millions of dollars. You earned that money due to your "warrior mentality". No shame in that but also no sympathy on this end.
I'd prefer you weren't hurt & would prefer you didn't have to go through the pain. I'm sorry you had to go through that but this is the life you choose.
This is why you get paid millions of dollars. You earned that money due to your "warrior mentality". No shame in that but also no sympathy on this end.
I'd prefer you weren't hurt & would prefer you didn't have to go through the pain. I'm sorry you had to go through that but this is the life you choose.
quote:Originally posted by Fountainfox:
Saying no one forced him to play seems to me a nice simple statement that dismisses the problem by putting all the blame on a person who, it seems to me, can be considered at least partly a victim.
Not attacking you personally, 'fox, but this is something that is wrong in today's America.
He's not a victim, or anything close to it.
He made his own decisions regarding his football career, and had opportunties to stop before he graduated to the next level.
Speaking of North Dallas Forty, I think Nick Nolte said the players are just pawns in the game of football. That I totally agree with, and only with the most serious injuries is a player's future considered. Otherwise, their only value to the team is their availability.
Never saw the movie, but "North Dallas Forty" was a pretty good book. Taylor chose the life and how he lived it, but I don't want to hear him dissing other players for choosing a different path than the one he took.