Players were not allowed to get medical second opinions until 1982, according to the NFLPA. Ever since the NFL began random drug testing in 1990, the consensus among players, coaches and team medical personnel is that steroid use has dropped significantly. Mark Bavaro, Tight End, New York Giants & Cleveland Browns & Philadelphia Eagles (1985-1990, 1992-1994). According to Yaras-Davis, a knee injury forced former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Roger Stillwell to get special devices to pull himself out of bed. You did though, that was during practices they would do that? In 1999, he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Mel Hein, Center, New York Giants (1931-1945). Favre has started 287 consecutive games, including the postseason, an all-time record for a quarterback. Let me ask you. You couldn't be upset about the hit; it was clean and legal. --Sam Huff, Bednarik was the last NFL player to play offense and defense. I didn't bite his nose, he said. Ex-Cowboys wide receiver Bob Hayes and former Miami Dolphins running back Mercury Morris have served time on drug convictions. Thats when doctors operated on his back for 11 1/2 hours to remove scar tissue and 27. WebJim Otto was born in Wausau, WI. Since then, only three players have been suspended for the minimum four weeks for a first offense. He gave the following advice to future Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey: Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts., 20. Namaths famously fragile knees are so painful that he cant carry his children down steps. Otto's body was punished greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 74 operations, including 28 on his knee (nine of them during his playing career) and multiple joint replacements. Right. That's the way football is, and if you don't want to play it that way, we can get you playing some girls' games. 4. Walter Payton, Running Back, Chicago Bears (1975-1987). It's incredibly debatable, but here is my attempt to rank them in order for toughness. Deacon Jones, Defensive End, Los Angeles Rams & San Diego Chargers & Washington Redskins (1961-1974), The NFL's unofficial record-holder with 26 sacks in the 1967 season, Deacon coined the term sack. Jones said that toughness is defined not by playing through pain, but by avoiding pain in the first place. Some play with injuries because they fear they might lose their job or position and their self-concept and identity. But Jim suffered greatly for that glory. Bleier eventually played on four Super Bowl championships and earned a reputation as both a fearsome blocker and a powerful runner. The Pro Football Hall of Fame recently received new artifacts from Super Bowl LV. I don't want to make an excuse. And I wanted to be a help to David. In addition to playing offensive center at UM, he also played linebacker on defense. He helped the Steelers win four Super Bowl titles in a six-year span in the 1970's and is probably the most important player in team history. Garrison wrapped his thumb in tape and played the next day, rushing for over 100 yards. During his first 10 years he suffered the usual injuries such as broken noses, fingers and ribs, and he played through it all. We'd go hunting together; we did a lot of different things together, Dave and I. 30. I don't know what they were taking. There was about 150 people come, and naturally I wanted to play well and everything. If I had a graph I could show you it. "Double O" starred for Wausau East, but even after college was considered I've had 74 surgeries all told throughout my body, all over my body. Mr. Nicknamed The Brute, Trafton broke the leg and ended the career of halfback Fred Chicken by throwing him into a fence. It's not for weak-hearted guys. The Rock Island fans were so angered that a rock-throwing mob chased him from the field. They never told me part of my knee was missing, said Krueger. And that happened to me in college, too, so it -- each time [I] had a very sickly feeling after it had happened, you know? Hein remains the only offensive linemen to ever win the MVP award (1938). I would say that suicide has been in the past one of the least spoken about things among players, among owners, among the NFL of anything. The former Titans star quarterback has injured nearly every part of his body at one time or another. No one ever has been suspended for a second or third time. Brett Favre, Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons & Green Bay Packers & New York Jets (1991-present). Nothing dirty about it. It came from the game. But has suicide and those kind of mental traumas, extreme points like a suicide, has that always been a feature that you've known about that's been kind of the chatter of the backroom [among] players? He had his right leg amputated in 2007. Jim Otto: The Pain of Glory is the story about a man who fought through numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and a myriad of other maladies. Jon Runyan, Tackle, Houston/Tennessee Oilers & Titans, Philadelphia Eagles (1996-present). WebHe considered the 20-some broken noses as more nuisance than hindrance, along with a hip pointer, broken fingers, broken ribs, a broken jaw, neck stingers, numerous But let them play. It has come upon people and hurt people for periods of time, you know? Perhaps the most painful of Jim Ottos 23 surgeries occurred five years ago. I think a lot of it is related to the pain and the lack of ability that I have for doing certain things. But I don't think it's that important, you know, to remember someone's name. We invariably would attack a bunker from where the enemy is shooting machine guns. The Most Risky Job Ever. Reporting on ISIS in Afghanistan. He won eight rushing titles before abruptly retiring at the age of 30. So when you retire from football and you've been involved in football, some kids -- it never happened to me. Do you feel like the suicide thoughts are related to the pain or related to retirement? Ive heard guys like Jim Otto and Dan Hampton say they would do it again. Rocky Bleier, Running Back, Pittsburgh Steelers (1968, 1971-1980). WebThe official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. Otto punished his body greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career For 19 straight seasons. Is that what you're saying? Anything loosea knee pad, a shoe, a chin strapwould be ripped off by a Butkus tackle. Nagurski became a professional wrestler after his NFL career and was a two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1997, he spit in the face of wide receiver JJ Stokes. The psychological high and its addiction is parallel to people who become addicted to cocaine or a smoker who has a dependency on cigarettes. After a few days, Otto gave out a press conference telling the nation that he had retired from the game of football. Emmitt Smith, Running Back, Dallas Cowboys & Arizona Cardinals (1990-2004), Emmitt Smith transformed the epitome of toughness on national television in the last game of the season in 1993. When I retired I was down. Otto paid the price, as he has had 74 surgeries, including 28 knee operations, and in 2007 his lower right leg had to be amputated but has said that he And they'll come up with some answers. We were at the Polo Grounds when I first ran up against him. The NFLPA report found that of the players leaving the game because of injury, 70.6% had emotional problems some time during the sixth-month transition period after football. I don't have knees anymore. Its not for whiners.. Butkus's opponents claimed that Butkus was like an odor that you could feel or sense on the field. He also had a ramp to enter the bathtub. 6. Teammate Charlie Waters recalls the time that Garrison accidentally cut his thumb with a knife so that it was dangling from his hand. WebJim Otto: The Pain of Glory is the story about a man who fought through numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and a myriad of other maladies. Steve Sabol had the following to say about Butkus: His career stands as the most sustained work of devastation ever committed on any field of sport, anywhere, any time., Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He spit in the face of Eagles safety Bill Bradley as he lay injured on the ground. Trafton played before the NFL enforced late-hit, roughing, or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. WebJim Otto, Mr. Minor injuries, therefore minor distractions, he called them. They're suing everybody for a lot of money, which I don't like because that's going to hurt football in high school, Little League and in pros. He was called the John Wayne of Football by John Madden. Is there something about Wisconsin, or is it something about how you just approached that position itself, the center? Kilroy denied the charge. You seem completely with it and pulling up words and memories and having no problems at all. And he hung with me. He also fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections due to his artificial joints, and during one six-month stretch, was without a proper right knee joint because he had to wait for the infection to clear up before another artificial one could be implanted. For the next 15 years, he was a fixture at center for the Oakland Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. And my amnesia that I had happened in high school and college. Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus had a similar situation with the Bears. He said, Football is tough. He soon was established as the Raiders center. Otto punished his body greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career alone) and multiple joint replacements. Two years ago, Detroit Lions guard Mike Utley took a hit and suffered severe spinal damage, leaving him nearly a quadriplegic. He retired from the Arena Football League in 1992. In the 1973 regular season, Oakland scored 292 points (20.9 points/game), 10th of 26 teams in the NFL and avenged their defeat at the hands of the Steelers during the 1973-74 NFL playoffs before losing to the Dolphins. Jim Otto The doctors have led me to believe that yes indeed, due to using my head and the number of concussions I have had, taken me down this road to where I do have some problems with memory [and] that I will have more, but I'm not worried about it. He liked to think that his best hits border on felonious assault., 14. They dont want to believe that someone put them in a position to make them look like idiots., Former Colts quarterback Bert Jones, 45, said: Everybody goes into the game realizing that two things are going to happen: Either one day youre going to be cut because youre no longer good enough, or an injury is going to cut short your career. 1. Two years later Unitas played the entire season with a broken vertebrae. Well, in some cases guys are heroes, and all of a sudden they're not heroes. As a 248-pound defensive end, he played in 282 consecutive games. He only called timeout one time and that was to reset his broken nose. No. He suffered from chronic back pain due to I forget words. Now, when you're telling, I guess it was maybe in your book, that you talked about the hit that you took from Ray Nitschke, when you -- I guess it was your nose. In 15 seasons, Otto played 210 consecutive games and made the AFL All-Star or Pro Bowl team 12 times. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I've had over 20 concussions myself, and I don't like them. No. In 1990, four players were suspended. Steve McNair, Quarterback, Houston/Tennessee Oilers & Titans & Baltimore Ravens (1995-2007). And if you cant take the injuries, get the hell out. He is famous for his crack-back blocks, and broke the jaw of Cincinnati rookie Keith Rivers in a 2008 contest. In the Eagles' next game, against the Giants, McDonald caught three touchdowns and returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown. 7. He owned numerous Burger King Restaurants near Sacramento, California until the early 1990s. During the 1980s, Otto was involved in numerous business ventures. He owned numerous Burger King Restaurants near Sacramento, California until the early 1990s. In 1997, Otto's daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot. Jim Otto starred for the Oakland Raiders, but his roots were in Wausau, Wisconsin. I used to watch you play when I was a kid --. NFL tough guy was fined for: kicking fullback Larry Centers in the head (1995); breaking Kerry Collins' jaw on a preseason helmet-to-helmet hit (1997); throwing a football at linebacker Bryan Cox and hitting him in the groin (1999); punching tight end Tony Gonzalez (1999); and breaking the eye socket of teammate Marcus Williams in a scrimmage, forcing him to retire (2003).
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