The Byron Jones Story

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Over the years I've read stories of so many retired players barely being able to get themselves out of bed in the mornings and having to take all sorts of medications to endure the pain throughout the day.

Pro football is no joke.  

Not sure if the trade offs are worth it for those who are permanently disabled.

When you do not have your health, nothing else matters.

[j2sgam]

My knees are fugged from playing football in a backyard after school most days, at the time I wasnt down for 2-a-days, practice before and after high school…  can only imagine the effects of real balm on a regular basis, let alone for years….

…and ‘dumbass’ is a compound word… completely different from a ‘dumb ass’ which isn’t…

[ECHornet]

For every one of these guys, there’s probably 100 who would say it’s worth it and would do it again if they could. 

[Cam's New Arm]

Has Jones never watched Any Given Sunday? This has been known forever.
So long as there is greed and competition, so too will there be sacrifices for greatness and victory.

[pantherclaw]

At the age of 10 years old, back in the 1980's, I understood that the NFL stood for, "not for long."  

It's that way because it is a very physical and brutal game.  As close as we get as to a modern day gladiators.  

Everybody knows the risks in volved.  It is the very nature of the beast/game.

You sign up, you sign up for it all. The good, and the bad. 

[GRWatcher]

I remember, not too long ago, when concussions and CTE were never talked about let alone treated in any meaningful manner. When a player said he didn't feel well after having his head slammed into the turf or hit in a helmet to helmet tackle he was seen as weak even by his teammates. Players were expected to play even when concussed. Times have changed but it took a long time.

It's now the same way with other injuries such as joint and soft tissue injuries. The player is seen as weak if they don't play through it. These injuries then just keep piling on top of each other until they require surgery or major therapy or stop the player altogether. We watched it happen to Cam. Not everyone is Thomas Davis Sr. The thinking needs to change, the way to treat these injuries needs to change and more money needs to be put into researching treatments so that in maybe 10-15 years then-current players won't be looking to a future of constant pain and disability. If players don't speak out now, it's not going to happen.

[csx]

6 hours ago, ECHornet said:

For every one of these guys, there’s probably 100 who would say it’s worth it and would do it again if they could. 

I would guess the opposite. Very small percentage have long illustrious careers. Most all will have lasting physical issues 

[BIGH2001]

3 hours ago, GRWatcher said:

I remember, not too long ago, when concussions and CTE were never talked about let alone treated in any meaningful manner. When a player said he didn't feel well after having his head slammed into the turf or hit in a helmet to helmet tackle he was seen as weak even by his teammates. Players were expected to play even when concussed. Times have changed but it took a long time.

It's now the same way with other injuries such as joint and soft tissue injuries. The player is seen as weak if they don't play through it. These injuries then just keep piling on top of each other until they require surgery or major therapy or stop the player altogether. We watched it happen to Cam. Not everyone is Thomas Davis Sr. The thinking needs to change, the way to treat these injuries needs to change and more money needs to be put into researching treatments so that in maybe 10-15 years then-current players won't be looking to a future of constant pain and disability. If players don't speak out now, it's not going to happen.

There’s only so much that can be done. The body is not designed to play football for 15-20 years. 

[FugginPoo]

Eventually the players will be replaced by AI Robots like the rest of us.  No more pain then

[ECHornet]

3 hours ago, csx said:

I would guess the opposite. Very small percentage have long illustrious careers. Most all will have lasting physical issues 

You think if they could go back and had the choice, 100 to 1 NFL players would choose not to play? 

Edited February 26, 2023 by ECHornet

[MHS831]

Some of you act as if some young person is even in a position to consider the logical, long-term implications of playing football---you gotta look at the big picture.

1. Since Pee Wees, you have been elite--the talk of the town.  It becomes your identity.  Fans, girls, news articles, etc.  It is addictive.

2. People are drawn to things they do well--the feed off the rush of being really good at something.  You don't work that hard for that long and simply walk away from it.

4. You do not compare yourself to others--you really think you are elite.  The elevator goes both ways--as you rise, you eliminate people along the way (competition).  You don't think about the day you reach the point when you are not able to eliminate people because they are as good or better than you--you have never had that experience before.  Eventually, all athletes die young.  You do not think about that day.  Like death, you know it is going to happen to you, but you do not think it is going to happen to you today.  The arrogance of youth, the blindness of the moment. In your mind, you are invincible, immortal.  It is the mindset of a gladiator, as someone else pointed out.

3.  When I was being recruited by colleges, I had academic offers to go to college without having to play football.  I remember telling my father (who played at South Carolina and in the CFL) "I don't want to turn 40 one day, look back, and regret not playing when I had the tools."  (I did not think about turning 40, looking back and thinking, "Boy, that was dumb!")

Funny, I used to think my life was football.  Now I realize that it didn't start-couldn't start-until football was over.  Life is so ironic.

Edited February 26, 2023 by MHS831

[mrcompletely11]

54 minutes ago, ECHornet said:

You think if they could go back and had the choice, 100 to 1 NFL players would choose not to play? 

if you ask them 10years+ after I would say yeah

 

The perpetual pain is not worth it

[ECHornet]

54 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

if you ask them 10years+ after I would say yeah

 

The perpetual pain is not worth it

I disagree. Hopefully someone will do that research so future generations will know if those who’ve lived it truly think it’s worth it. 
 

I have had too many conversations with men who only played football for free and remember it fondly. The overwhelming majority of those I talked to would do it again. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by ECHornet

[Khyber53]

I used to spend my summers working as a brick mason's laborer when I was growing up. Did it a few other times later in life when jobs and money were really scarce. Tore up my shoulders, tore up my back, probably helped do in my knees.

The shots of cortisone and stuff I've had to take probably made things worse over time. And there are sooo many people who work like that every day of their entire lives, just getting ground down to a nub. They get some shots when they can afford it, have no health insurance to speak of and often have to resort to alcohol and pain killers to make it through their days, working and not. 

A lot of them are just completely worn out by the time they hit their mid 30s and just hang on somehow because that's all there is for them.

It sucks to be in constant pain, but having a bunch of money in the bank can certainly help. Or if not, if there was just some way they could get medical help.

I wish the best to the guy and other players like him, but man, my sympathies on this rest heavier on much less fortunate people.