Doug Chapman breaks down hot-button topics surrounding the league in his weekly column, “Doug’s Dish.” A former NFL running back and current ESPN college football analyst, Chapman will tackle the issues from a player’s perspective and share insight from his playing days to support his analysis. Chapman, who was selected by Minnesota in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft out of Marshall University, played four seasons with the Vikings before retiring in 2005. In this week’s column, Chapman talks about the difference between being hurt or injured, and gets insight from Chad Pennington and Daunte Culpepper.
Once training camp is over and the regular season begins, there isn’t a single player in the league (except for a few kickers, punters and quarterbacks) who feels 100 percent healthy. That’s simply the nature of the game. Playing with some sort of nagging injury throughout the season is common in the NFL.
But in the NFL, there’s a difference between being hurt or injured. Hurt means that you’re just a tad dinged up, but you can continue to play. Injured, however, means that you actually have to miss practice and possibly games.
Physical and mental toughness are requirements in the game of football, but a player also has to know when to draw the line. I recently spoke with Daunte Culpepper about this and he said, “Every player wants to be in there on every play competing, helping his team win. When I went through my situation with my knee, I knew it was something that would take time to heal and there was nothing I could do about that. We all just hope we return as the same player we were before we got hurt.”
Dealing with the injury itself is half of the equation, while being able to return from it and compete at a high level is the remaining half. This week, I spoke with Chad Pennington, who was twice named the league’s comeback player of the year after successfully returning from shoulder surgery in 2005 and 2008. Pennington clearly knows how difficult it is to return to the game after a serious injury.
“Coming back from major shoulder surgery requires a different mindset the following year,” he said. “People don't realize the amount of energy spent to simply return to the field. I kept a simple mindset of accomplishing small goals every day and really enjoyed every moment of being a football player. When you experience a career-threatening injury, you no longer take the little things for granted. I believe this approach allowed me to be successful the following year after each surgery."
Often, it’s difficult for a player to decipher whether he should shut it down for a few weeks or try to play with an injury. The saying, “You can’t make the club in the tub” is one you hear often in NFL locker rooms because sometimes management puts pressure on players to play when they shouldn’t be on the field at all. Last season, Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, called out running back Marion Barber after he missed a game with a toe injury. Jones said, "He can play with that injured toe. He can play with the soreness and a combination of those things. I see nothing that led us to believe he couldn’t.” I guess Jones not only owns the team, but he’s also a team doctor.
During my career, I personally witnessed players get demoted or eventually released for not playing when they’re injured. This type of pressure can cause players to end up with a more serious injury that can actually shorten or possibly end their career.
Football is a beautifully-violent sport that takes a lifelong toll on our bodies. I retired with a career-ending injury, so I know first-hand what we risk every time we take the field and I know the pressures we all face to perform. I attended the Redskins vs. Eagles game last Monday night and I was reminded of the physical nature of the game when Brian Westbrook left with what appeared to be a concussion early in the contest and Chris Cooley was carted off the field with a lower leg injury later in the game. I thought about how the average career lasts only 3.5 years and I pictured some of the older former players I’ve met who can barely walk now. These are the risks we all willingly take for the love of the game, but every player must know their limits.