Damar Hamlin and trauma, Sorry in advance for the brain dump

[chinngiskhaan]

All this talk about football players experiencing trauma because of what happened to Mr. Hamlin has me thinking about the players that were on the Utes team when Aaron Lowe was murdered. It’s obviously a bit different because one thing was football related, and the other was not, but one event was also significantly more violent and ultimately horrifying.

There are grown men getting paid millions of dollars to play a game that are now contemplating not playing that game anymore because one on field incident that likely didn’t involve them. That trauma is real. I can’t help but think of the trauma some of our players are still likely suffering from because of what happened to Aaron Lowe.

It’s remarkable to me that these guys can even come back after a serious injury. The perfect example of this is obviously Alex Smith. I have NO IDEA how he was able to convince himself to play football again, on the same field nonetheless, when playing football nearly killed him. Even if his leg was perfectly healthy now (it’s clearly not) it would be hard for most people to even visualize themselves playing again. Even guys that suffer broken limbs and torn ligaments. That has to have an effect on how they play the game, but it often doesn’t seem to phase them. It’s nuts to think about.

I broke my nose once playing basketball in 8th grade. Every time I am put in a similar situation on defense my mind goes back to that moment. It didn’t hurt, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it’s forever stuck in my mind.

If I had an injury like Paul George or Gordon Heyward, it would probably take me a year or two to even convince myself it was safe to jump. 

[Tony (admin)]

Mysteries of the human condition… Football injuries  can last a lifetime. I have one I got in high school football and as a result can’t turn my head very far one direction. A few years ago I had the opportunity to hang out with John Elway for awhile. I mentioned how I liked his style of play, not sliding when he was going to be tackled. He would lay some pretty big wood on linebackers and DB’s trying to tackle him.  He said, “it was fun then but it hurts now.” And watching him move around and walk it was obvious that his body was hammered. 

[BD]

I broke my nose once playing basketball in 8th grade. Every time I am put in a similar situation on defense my mind goes back to that moment. It didn’t hurt, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it’s forever stuck in my mind.

I played soccer in my youth – about 40 years ago. I got a hard kick by the ball in my face – it knocked me on the ground. It didn’t break anything, but I quit soon after that – it was pretty traumatic. Recently, I had to have a front tooth completely replaced. My dentist said it was a rare tooth condition that he had only seen once before in 30 years of practice. He asked me, “Did you ever have a blow to your face or mouth at any time in your life – even if it was long ago?” I told him about the soccer blow to my face 40 years ago, and the dentist said that, believe it or not, it could possibly have affected the tooth so that it is the reason the tooth needed to be replaced even 40 years later. I was stunned.

Don’t know if anybody has ever seen the movie Concussion starring Will Smith. Terrifying. How the players manage the risk is beyond me.

[Charlie]

Manage, I think, is the wrong word. Endure seems more correct.

[dystopiamembrane]

This article is worth a read.

[Utah]

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[Author]

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