OL Matt Gono likely has a career-ending neck injury

that’s pretty serious. I’m sure the people joking about him leaving the team yesterday feel a little different right now. At least from an empathy non-football perspective.

That's awful. Really feel sorry for him, but the good news is that it was diagnosed now before he did any damage that might impair his ability to live a normal life. Best wishes to him.

I liked the signing because I thought that he could compete for a starting guard spot while providing solid depth at OT.

his surgeon. Cannot mess with a neck.

Best wishes to him for the future.

A hunch because of the sudden departure and his history with it.

Best wishes to the guy.

To him

Necks & backs are nothing to fuck with. Wish him the best.

Hurt his neck in college, was never treated then was drafted and his condition was diagnosed after he was injured here. It destroyed his football dream and the Giants year. Necks are nothing to mess with

Matt Gono and family. Thanks for giving it a go.

terrible is some of the comments on yesterdays thread from some of the posters on here.

I just never understand people who complain about an injury.

So we're talking, like, 45 years ago. This is about an actor who has worked A LOT and you have seen in dozens of movies and TV shows, but you probably don't know his name. And I'm not going to name him, because part of this is kind of private.

I come from theater. I was doing summer stock in New England. We had a day off. Some of the actors went to the beach. Nice beach, off the beaten track. Might have been Wingaersheek, if you know the area.

One of them — the guy who later went on to do a ton of movies and TV shows — did a surface dive. Came up looking dazed. Turned out he hit his head on the bottom and compressed his neck.

So they decided to take him to the doctor. They put him the car, left the beach parking lot, crossed bumpy roads and railroad tracks, drove him to the nearest doctor they could find. This is like 1978, no cell phones, so they're figuring it out as they go. No "urgent care" to go to. And nobody in this group is older than, like, 21.

So they get to the doctor and he takes an X-ray of the guy's neck. Leaves him in the examining room with his friends. A few minutes later the doctor walks into the room and immediately straps the guy to the examining table. He'd fractured a cervical vertebra. They put him in a halo cast, the kind with the four vertical metal rods bolted to his skull, and fleece lining that covered his upper torso. He was a big guy, very tall. It was hot that summer in New England and he had to walk around in that cast with no shirt and surgical pants. It was an amazing sight. Scary but amazing.

About 10 years later I crossed paths with him and asked him about it. He said he was still in pain from that injury. I assume he has had pain for the rest of his life. He's still alive and still working.

So, brining this back to Gono: If he had any kind of major neck injury, he may already be at the point where he'll have chronic pain — with an injury like that, there may be no such thing as "catching it in time." Also, if the doctor examined him and immediately performed surgery, it may not have been immediately life-threatening but I bet it was pretty damn bad.

Let's be thankful he is not laying on the field motionless. Hopefully this does not impact everyday life and if he chooses to remain in football he can pursue coaching or other aspect of the game.

Really unfortunate these type of things happen to players but at least he will get some great medical care.

Beyond playing the game.

Best is yet to come.

Hope this does not plague him for years to come in normal life.

I had something similar happen to me in 2016 in LBI. They were dredging the sand back onto the beaches which apparently really changes the structure of the surf in a big bad way. While body surfing the surf planted me headfirst into the sand. It was like someone flicked a lightswitch and all power went out to my upper body, lost all feeling to my arms. Immediately I was sure my neck was broken. Somehow I got out of the surf and I got airlifted to AC hospital. Spent 3 days in intensive care. Ended up being a severe spinal contusion. Took me about a year to get back to normal, thankfully I got back to lifting all the weights I had in the past but my neck still goes out of whack often if I'm not careful staying up on stretching etc. They should have had signs out with warnings, there were 5 other people in intensive care with me for the same issues, one was a young kid that ended up a quadriplegic. Apparently when they dredge back/neck injuries increase exponentially.

cleared this guy to sign with the Giants? I mean he couldn't get past one padded practice.