DUmmies Discuss American Football - If It's American, It Must Be Bad

[GOBUCKS]

The Straight Story  (1000+ posts)        Fri Dec-18-09 07:49 PM
Original message
Former NFL star Dave Pear is sorry he ever played football

Dave Pear has a message for you.

"Don't let your kids play football," he says. "Never."

It is an odd thing, hearing these sort of words from a man like David Louis Pear, University of Washington standout, Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Super Bowl champion with the Oakland Raiders. His five-year NFL career was one thousands of high school and college athletes would envy -- charging out of a darkened stadium tunnel, 70,000 fans screaming for you, loving you, praising you, idolizing you.

"You wanna know the truth?" says Pear.

The question lingers -- the 56-year-old ex-athlete preparing to unload one more skull-splitting hit.

"I wish I never played football. I wish that more than anything. Every single day, I want to take back those years of my life ..."

The words are not subtle. They spit from Pear's mouth, with a blistering contempt normally reserved for drunk drivers. We are speaking via phone. I am in New York, sipping a hot chocolate, leaning back in a chair. My two young children are asleep. A Pretenders song, "2000 Miles," plays in the background. No worries, no complexities. Pear is sitting at his home in Seattle. His neck hurts. His hips hurt. His knees hurt. His feet hurt. When he wakes up in the morning, pain shoots through his body. When he goes to sleep at night, pain shoots through his body. What does Pear do to stay active?

"My life is simple," he says. "It's hard to get out of bed, but eventually I do. I try and do a little walking on the treadmill. I take naps. I go to physical therapy once per week. I read my Bible."

He is, in basic terms, a train wreck -- a football-inflicted train wreck. Pear walks with a cane and, often, simply doesn't walk at all. He suffers from vertigo and memory loss. Over the past 18 years, he has undergone eight surgeries, beginning with a Posterior Cervical Laminectomy on his neck in 1981, and including disc removal and rod fusion in his back (1987), arthroplasty in his left hip (2008) and, earlier this year, four screws removed from his lower back. Though he chalks up his physical ailments to snap after snap of punishment, he pinpoints the biggest problems back to 1979 and '80, his final two NFL seasons. While playing for Oakland, Pear suffered a herniated disc in his neck that never improved. Despite the unbearable agony, he says the Raiders urged him to keep playing.

Throughout North America, many of Pear's retired football brethren hear his words and scream, Amen!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7267216
This guy is in a class action lawsuit against the NFL Players' Association. There is always risk of injury, but he has a vested interest in making the game sound bad.

Ron Green  (1000+ posts)        Fri Dec-18-09 07:54 PM
Response to Original message
1. I work with people every day who suffer that kind of pain, but all they have to show for it is
a logging job or a mill job that went away, leaving them without health insurance or skills that will transfer to the new Information Economy.

At least NFL guys have the chance to put away a stout chunk of change for their eventual decrepitude.

 

GoCubsGo  (1000+ posts)      Fri Dec-18-09 08:24 PM
8. Yeah, but the NFL guys are the lucky ones...
What about the ones who don't make it there? That's what he's getting at. The game makes everyone decrepit, but the vast majority who play it don't make it to the NFL. Heck, a lot of 'em don't even make it onto a college team. Yet, their bodies are still being torn to shreds. even at the high school level. 

   

endless october  (902 posts)        Fri Dec-18-09 08:04 PM
Response to Original message
4. i got out of football during high school.
spent every night looking over at the tennis courts; jealous that they could go home at 6:30.

i got hurt, but not badly. joined the tennis team for the rest of high school.

then after high school, i discovered music kicks the shit out of running full speed into some testosterone-overdriven jerk. should have spent high school in a rock band. have tried to make up for that since.

Translation: DUmmy endless october got cut.
 

Journeyman  (1000+ posts)        Fri Dec-18-09 08:13 PM
Response to Original message
5. My neighbor's son had an opportunity to try out with Tampa Bay . . .
After considerable thought, he turned them down.

When I asked him why, he explained he was an interior lineman, not a very charismatic man, and unlikely to create a post-football career from his time in the big leagues. He'd also had surgery on his knees while in college. It was more important, he believed, to be able to walk when he was 50 than to look back on a short career in the pros, no matter how exciting that time might prove to be.
...
"I've never looked at football the same since."

Translation: He was nowhere near good enough to make it.
 

DUmmy hadrons girlfriend spent too much time on her knees:

hadrons (1000+ posts)      Fri Dec-18-09 08:14 PM
Response to Original message
6. When I was 27, I dated an ex-cheerleader (she was 23 at the time) ...
and she still had bad knees 5 years afterwards (it was High School) ... and she was just a cheerleader at the game 

nightrain  (1000+ posts)        Fri Dec-18-09 08:20 PM
Response to Original message
7. knr. Football is a brutal corporate business that takes its toll on bodies and emotions.

Translation: American football epitomizes the American ideals of hard work, physical strength, teamwork, discipline, and perseverance, so it is evil.
Democrat DUmmies are a bunch of pussies, and they only play soccer, if it's in a video game.

[AllosaursRus]

I worked construction for 30 years. I have 6 screws in my back and one in my ankle. I'm do for another appointment with the knife farther up my spine. I didn't make $450,000 a year, now the league minimum! Granted when this guy played, the pay wasn't nearly what it is now, but if you take into account inflation, he probly made 10 times what I did. If he wasted all the money he made, well beyond what it took to live on, I have no sympathy whatsoever. A footballers career is rarely over 12 years. In many cases a mere 5. In that time, most make enough that, with investments, they are set for life. Nice work, if you can get it!

So have him call the waaaaaaaaammmbulance!!!!! I ain't buyin' what he's sellin'.

[IassaFTots]

hmmmm....not like anyone MADE you play football.  Sorry, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that football can be dangerous.  That is the risk you take for the money you make. 

[The Village Idiot]

So have him call the waaaaaaaaammmbulance!!!!! I ain't buyin' what he's sellin'.

A lot of  these guys are coddled from high school on, they never have to pass a real class in College and they never learn to be wise with money, they never have to think about it. They are pretty much convinced the money never ends, some teams try to instill the facts in them but not everyone listens. I read about how some Dallas Cowboys players take the initiative to teach teammates abou money management. I think it might have been Daryl "Moose" Johnston and some other guys. Of course he's got a good post-NFL career as a sportscaster with Fox.

[Specbid]

"GoCubsGo  (1000+ posts)      Fri Dec-18-09 08:24 PM
8. Yeah, but the NFL guys are the lucky ones...
What about the ones who don't make it there? That's what he's getting at. The game makes everyone decrepit, but the vast majority who play it don't make it to the NFL. Heck, a lot of 'em don't even make it onto a college team. Yet, their bodies are still being torn to shreds. even at the high school level."


Bullshit. GoCubsGo must have been a ***** in school. Everyone of my friends, to this day, played football or basketball in high school. Most played in college. Most STILL play and we're all 50ish. I stopped playing at 36 because I couldn't play to the level I was used to. Injuries had nothing to do with it. "...bodies are still being torn to shreds"...please.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

hmmmm....not like anyone MADE you play football.  Sorry, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that football can be dangerous.  That is the risk you take for the money you make. 

Oh please!

If football were really dangerous they'd have to wear pads and helmets or something.

 

[Chris_]

The DUmmies are so stupid. And so jealous.

My son played high school ball and 2 years of college ball. 5 years total. A knee injury knocked him out but he's not all broke up.  Offensive lineman.

Matter of fact, no one he played with has a body torn to shreds. 

Most of the older NFL players we've met still have money and coach high school/college ball now.  The only thing bad I can say about them ?  They drink too much.  Not one we know is cripple.

One thing is true.  You do get a pass in some colleges.  Some.  What hurts later on is when you go back to college to finish and realize it ain't a free ride anymore.  You have to work for those grades.  Reality spanks hard.

We only know one ex NFL player that doesn't have any money left but that's because he liked planting his seed all over town.   

[Chris_]

My husband has had numerous knee surgeries and one major shoulder surgery.  He played football in high school.  None of his surgeries were from football related injuries. Back then they were less padded and more prone to injury.  He did break his arm though.  Someone fell on him.

He's all tore up but not from playing.  From life. 

[bkg]

I raced MX for 11 years and have the scars, back, limp to show for it.

I guess we better ban MX.

[ReaganForRushmore]

There is some truth to what is said about the NFL'ers from the 80's back. I have been blessed to actually know some NFL players,(No, I never played the sport beyond high school) Earl Campbell is old way before his time.The punishment his body absorbed in his NFL now enslaves his body.

Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak are entirely different stories, they are probably in better shape now then when they were playing because they lost the weight and are still active physically. They both still
work out, but what is truly interesting they are very much into massage therapy and chiropratic care twice a week. They are trying to manage the damage done to their bodies over long careers and be active. I'm sure that they will have additional problems, but like Bruce said "I got paid very well to play a sport that I loved." Who can argue about getting paid for enjoying your passion?

[kenth]

Democrat DUmmies are a bunch of pussies, and they only play soccer, if it's in a video game.

[Randy]

I raced MX for 11 years and have the scars, back, limp to show for it.

I guess we better ban MX.

I have 2 bad knees, a bad back, arthritic hands and numerous scars from years of being a mechanic.

Maybe we should ban all things more complicated than a lever?

[Specbid]

There is some truth to what is said about the NFL'ers from the 80's back. I have been blessed to actually know some NFL players,(No, I never played the sport beyond high school) Earl Campbell is old way before his time.The punishment his body absorbed in his NFL now enslaves his body.

Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak are entirely different stories, they are probably in better shape now then when they were playing because they lost the weight and are still active physically. They both still
work out, but what is truly interesting they are very much into massage therapy and chiropratic care twice a week. They are trying to manage the damage done to their bodies over long careers and be active. I'm sure that they will have additional problems, but like Bruce said "I got paid very well to play a sport that I loved." Who can argue about getting paid for enjoying your passion?

Yes, the pros take a beating. Use to run into Johnny Unitas. You should have seen his hands. Kinda mangled. Nice guy though.
Anyway, I thought Barry Sanders did the right thing by retiring early. Get out with sound body.
I just take exception with the DUmmie who said high schoolers are having their bodies torn to shreds. It might happen occassionally, but not that often. FWIW.

[BadCat]

I met Johnny once, he was selling copper based paint and other anti-EMT junk for use in SCIFS.

He was physically, a mess.

[TheSarge]

A lot of  these guys are coddled from high school on, they never have to pass a real class in College and they never learn to be wise with money, they never have to think about it. They are pretty much convinced the money never ends, some teams try to instill the facts in them but not everyone listens. I read about how some Dallas Cowboys players take the initiative to teach teammates abou money management. I think it might have been Daryl "Moose" Johnston and some other guys. Of course he's got a good post-NFL career as a sportscaster with Fox.

Cedric Benson is one of those pampered guys I watched come up through the ranks form coddled HS player to can do no wrong stud at UT to where he is now.

Always a coach...always a lawyer to bail you out of trouble.


This ex-NFLer sounds like he's pissed cause he didn't last the league minimum time to qualify for retirement pension from the NFLPA.

[Specbid]

He gave my family a football. Remember when they had white stripes at the ends. Of course I was just a kid, and my brothers and I played with it. In the street no less. What a mess. Still have it on my bookshelf though. Good memories.

[BadCat]

He gave my family a football. Remember when they had white stripes at the ends. Of course I was just a kid, and my brothers and I played with it. In the street no less. What a mess. Still have it on my bookshelf though. Good memories.

My mom's current husband has a Unitas autographed jersey....framed and hung as a shrine in his house.

[Specbid]

My mom's current husband has a Unitas autographed jersey....framed and hung as a shrine in his house.

Sounds good.

[GOBUCKS]

I think it's a mistake to equate football with the NFL. It's a microscopic part of football. For a hundred years, millions of American boys have learned discipline, teamwork, respect for authority, personal reponsiblity, sportsmanship, and the power of perseverence through playing football. That's the huge benefit of football, not college scholarships or NFL millions. There's a small risk involved, of course, like there is with every single thing worth doing in life. Overprotective parents who don't allow their boys to participate are doing them a huge disservice, as many of those boys will tell them years from now.

[Specbid]

Well said.

[USA4ME]

Dave Pear, ..... Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

When the Bucs got their franchise, I was in 10th grade in Tampa.  Of course, they lost their first 26 games, but watching the Selmon brothers (Lee Roy and Dewey) and Dave Pear play was the only part of the highlight reel that was worth it.  The Bucs played a 3-4 defense and Dave Pear anchored the middle of the D-Line.  Guy was a ball of energy.  Whenever it was the end of the quarter and the D was on the field (which was most of the time), the other players on both sides would casually walk down to the other end of the field for the start of the next quarter, but he would sprint down there and wait.  It was almost like he was wondering why they had to take a break between quarters; just place the ball down at the other end and let's play.  Quite inspirational.

Sorry to hear things are so bad he wished he had never suited up.  I imagine it's somewhat similar to someone who's sitting in prison because they killed someone while driving drunk wishing they had never taken that first drink.

.