1986
Aug. 2: In April, doctors looked at the badly damaged finger on Ronnie Lott's left hand and gave him two choices. They could operate, graft a bone from the wrist, insert a pin and have him wear a cast for the next eight weeks. Or they could amputate just above the first joint. Lott made what coaches like to call "the football decision." He told them to cut off the end of his finger. It was a simple procedure. He held out his hand, they numbed it and snipped off the finger tip and put his hand in a cast. After three weeks he went back to have the cast removed. The doctor took off the last dressing. "What do you think?" he asked. Lott couldn't answer. He was staring at a stub. Instead of a fingernail there was only a whitish, rounded stump. "The ugliest thing I've ever seen," Lott says. "I was trying to laugh it off, but I felt sick. I tried to stand up, but I broke into a cold sweat. It was just a total shock. I thought, 'Oh, man, I should have had the pin put in.' " Lott has had worse injuries, but emotionally this one was different. It made him feel that football was biting off bits and pieces of him, of everyone who plays. And no one seems to care. "We are losing the compassionate side of sports," he says. "We're becoming gladiators. If I ever become a coach, I hope I never lose sight of the fact that players are people. They feel, they have emotions. I could have all of Eddie DeBartolo's corporations and it isn't going to buy me a new finger. It has given me a new perspective on life."
That does not mean that Youngblood is correct here. He even
has the benefit of seeing his contemporaries as they fall apart physically and emotionally post NFL. He will always be a legend for playing with a broken leg. We know that there are similar tales of guys plying hurt, very hurt, back in the day. That does not make it right.
There's playing hurt and playing injured and playing effectively. I'm wondering how well Youngblood played with a broken fibula. (Anyone know?) It's not just about playing with pain. Most of the time you see a guy playing with an injury, they suck. I'd rather have them be less tough, and let someone else play better. (Not that the Giants have a lot of JPP replacements just waiting to play.)
Many contracts were for one year and a option, salaries were lower, rosters were smaller, there was no free agency...you had to play
Starters even played deep into exhibition games...
Youngblood had a multi-year contract out of college but according to McDermott SI in 1983: "He remembers breaking into pro football, thrilled with a $21,000 salary. Deacon Jones, his idol, had hurt his foot, and Youngblood, a rookie and a rube, filled the void."
Again not questioning Youngblood who is one of the greats...but for many there was no choice but to play.
As a Giants fan Youngblood has always caused me "pain" in another way:
1971 Draft
1-19 NYG Rocky Thompson RB West Texas State
1-20 OAK Jack Tatum S Ohio State
1-21 LAR Jack Youngblood DE Florida HOF
but isn't this the same group of older players that has testified and sued the NFL at times for what happened to them on the field? If it was bad for them now, why would you want to tell players to do the same things to thier bodies?
it's our whole society. Football is just a reflection. Hockey players with helmets and facemasks. No dodgeball. No one allowed to kill/get killed in a war (it looks awful on TV).
or does anyone else see the sickness in all this? We, as a society, expect people to perform, on a playing field, despite traumatic injuiries and with total disregard for life and limb. And, to add insult to injury, we vilify men who make decisions, regarding their health, with the long term ramifications in mind.
At times I wonder to myself , considering my outlook on work, workplaces, and workers, why I support the madness. I have a sneaking suspicion that, at some point, I will throw in the towel and stop.
even if JPP were as tough as Youngblood, the coaching/training staff still wouldn't let him play if he's injured.
as Tuck said in the article, big difference between "hurt" and "injured." I expect all of our players to play hurt. i expect none of them to play injured.
anyway....the reason people remember Youngblood's broken leg Â
is the fact that it was astonishing even then. Playing through a broken leg was crazy tough in the '70s just as much as it would be now. It's silly to use this one exceptional incident as a yardstick for current players because it wasn't the yardstick in ANY era.
you go back further in time, coaches would deny water to players during practices. Now these losers are drinking water all the time, sometimes even Gatorade. Chuck Bednarik would've drank his own piss before taking a swig of Gatorade. It's just not the same sport anymore.
I think there is a question asked both then and now..... Â
Risking further injury can impact earnings potential by millions of dollars, not just a few hundred grand.
Compare the career earnings of Aaron Ross and Terrel Thomas, or Steve Smith and Victor Cruz. Agents aren't going to let you make a gametime decision in a vacuum. That plus a guy like JPP may not really have any clue about the significance of the injury, because his doctors are practicing defensive medicine, and you have the potential for some bad decisions
hell, you don't even have to go back that far to find when water was Â
restricted.....my high school football team was a mediocre team from a small private school in a weak league, and our practices were run as if it were the fucking Junction Boys. Water was kept on the benches by the doors to the gym, a solid 50 yards or so from the practice field. We'd get something like two minutes for water breaks. You'd sprint over to the water, fight with your teammates to get a bottle to take a quick swig and sprint back. This was in the early '90s.
which is not a weight bearing bone. This is not to say that the break was not painful, or that the possibility of further damage was not real, but both players had full lower leg support and mobility, and so were able to play at a high level.
RE: anyway....the reason people remember Youngblood's broken leg Â
is the fact that it was astonishing even then. Playing through a broken leg was crazy tough in the '70s just as much as it would be now. It's silly to use this one exceptional incident as a yardstick for current players because it wasn't the yardstick in ANY era.
This. Thank you Greg for returning sanity to this conversation.
It's not about winning battles, it's about winning wars. Both as an individual and as a team. Risking JPP's future for 1 game is not worth it for both the team or JPP.
was a ton of dough and playing on a snapped fibula that hurt like being stabbed with an ice pick would absolutely hurt it further and be quite dangerous and was amazingly stupid.
when athletes said they couldn't believe they were getting paid to play a game they loved. Anything they made was a bonus. You don't hear that much anymore
when athletes said they couldn't believe they were getting paid to play a game they loved. Anything they made was a bonus. You don't hear that much anymore
That was never true. Pro sports have been a business since the first time the Cincinnati Reds paid a player in 1869. They just used to write fluff pieces about Mickey Mantle so everyone believes the game was more "pure" when they were a kid. It's nonsense.
Aug. 2: In April, doctors looked at the badly damaged finger on Ronnie Lott's left hand and gave him two choices. They could operate, graft a bone from the wrist, insert a pin and have him wear a cast for the next eight weeks. Or they could amputate just above the first joint. Lott made what coaches like to call "the football decision." He told them to cut off the end of his finger. It was a simple procedure. He held out his hand, they numbed it and snipped off the finger tip and put his hand in a cast. After three weeks he went back to have the cast removed. The doctor took off the last dressing. "What do you think?" he asked. Lott couldn't answer. He was staring at a stub. Instead of a fingernail there was only a whitish, rounded stump. "The ugliest thing I've ever seen," Lott says. "I was trying to laugh it off, but I felt sick. I tried to stand up, but I broke into a cold sweat. It was just a total shock. I thought, 'Oh, man, I should have had the pin put in.' " Lott has had worse injuries, but emotionally this one was different. It made him feel that football was biting off bits and pieces of him, of everyone who plays. And no one seems to care. "We are losing the compassionate side of sports," he says. "We're becoming gladiators. If I ever become a coach, I hope I never lose sight of the fact that players are people. They feel, they have emotions. I could have all of Eddie DeBartolo's corporations and it isn't going to buy me a new finger. It has given me a new perspective on life."
You think that would ever happen today, even while playing in the Super Bowl? Not a chance...some would say that's good and others would say the opposite.
Ronnie Lott stunned by loss of fingertip, 1986 - ( New Window )
has the benefit of seeing his contemporaries as they fall apart physically and emotionally post NFL. He will always be a legend for playing with a broken leg. We know that there are similar tales of guys plying hurt, very hurt, back in the day. That does not make it right.
Starters even played deep into exhibition games...
Youngblood had a multi-year contract out of college but according to McDermott SI in 1983: "He remembers breaking into pro football, thrilled with a $21,000 salary. Deacon Jones, his idol, had hurt his foot, and Youngblood, a rookie and a rube, filled the void."
Again not questioning Youngblood who is one of the greats...but for many there was no choice but to play.
As a Giants fan Youngblood has always caused me "pain" in another way:
1971 Draft
1-19 NYG Rocky Thompson RB West Texas State
1-20 OAK Jack Tatum S Ohio State
1-21 LAR Jack Youngblood DE Florida HOF
At times I wonder to myself , considering my outlook on work, workplaces, and workers, why I support the madness. I have a sneaking suspicion that, at some point, I will throw in the towel and stop.
as Tuck said in the article, big difference between "hurt" and "injured." I expect all of our players to play hurt. i expect none of them to play injured.
And I think that's the question that should be asked with respect to JPP.
Risking further injury can impact earnings potential by millions of dollars, not just a few hundred grand.
Compare the career earnings of Aaron Ross and Terrel Thomas, or Steve Smith and Victor Cruz. Agents aren't going to let you make a gametime decision in a vacuum. That plus a guy like JPP may not really have any clue about the significance of the injury, because his doctors are practicing defensive medicine, and you have the potential for some bad decisions
That was never true. Pro sports have been a business since the first time the Cincinnati Reds paid a player in 1869. They just used to write fluff pieces about Mickey Mantle so everyone believes the game was more "pure" when they were a kid. It's nonsense.