A serious article about Bernie Kosar's injuries
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Oh, what they didn't know back then. Kosar is right - the opening of MNF had two helmets crashing.
But it didn't have to be so much a violent game as it was back then.
and it isn't just qb's - even one of the greatest lb's in history - Dick Butkus - had legit problems later on in life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Butkus
" Injuries sustained during Butkus's playing career have compounded with time. He had his knee replaced with a metal unit. An osteotomy left him with one leg one-and-a-half inches shorter than the other, which has affected his hips, back, and neck. Around 2002, nerve damage in his spine caused him to develop foot drop. He lost strength in his hands until he needed them both to lift a coffee cup.[6] Still, Butkus maintains that football had a largely positive impact on his life, and that its benefits should not be overlooked.[101] "
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They paid a steep price to play a game they loved, got paid reasonably well for it..... well some did, all to entertain us.
Most every one said they'd do it again despite many walking with limps and canes in their 40s and 50s and some died too young.
All for the shield ?️.
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I absolutely liked Kosar, what a warrior !
.........The heavy hits for Kosar began in college at the University of Miami on his very first play from scrimmage in a game against the Florida Gators at the swamp in Gainesville.
“This guy named Wilbur Marshall, we were backed up on the one yard line, he cracked me into the red brick wall that goes around Gator-land and the first thing I thought as I was laying there was, 'I better do good in school because this football thing is not going to work out.'”
Kosar did very well in school graduating from the “U” with a degree in finance in just 2.5 years while leading the Hurricanes to the school’s first National Championship. He would announce his decision to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft in 1985 to guarantee he would be picked first overall by the team he grew up rooting for in Boardman, Ohio, the Cleveland Browns......
...........For eight and a half seasons on the way to three AFC Championship games, the hits kept coming, said Kosar, who puts the number of broken bones and torn ligaments he suffered at around 60.
Quarterbacks at the time didn’t have the protections that exist in the NFL today. "The league was encouraging crown of the helmet, top of the helmet blows. I mean the beginning of Monday Night Football was two helmets smashing together, the pregame show had a segment called 'Jacked Up,' where how hard do you hit a guy and you were glorified for using your helmet as a weapon," he said.........
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I absolutely liked Kosar, what a warrior !
.........The heavy hits for Kosar began in college at the University of Miami on his very first play from scrimmage in a game against the Florida Gators at the swamp in Gainesville.
“This guy named Wilbur Marshall, we were backed up on the one yard line, he cracked me into the red brick wall that goes around Gator-land and the first thing I thought as I was laying there was, 'I better do good in school because this football thing is not going to work out.'”
Kosar did very well in school graduating from the “U” with a degree in finance in just 2.5 years while leading the Hurricanes to the school’s first National Championship. He would announce his decision to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft in 1985 to guarantee he would be picked first overall by the team he grew up rooting for in Boardman, Ohio, the Cleveland Browns......
...........For eight and a half seasons on the way to three AFC Championship games, the hits kept coming, said Kosar, who puts the number of broken bones and torn ligaments he suffered at around 60.
Quarterbacks at the time didn’t have the protections that exist in the NFL today. "The league was encouraging crown of the helmet, top of the helmet blows. I mean the beginning of Monday Night Football was two helmets smashing together, the pregame show had a segment called 'Jacked Up,' where how hard do you hit a guy and you were glorified for using your helmet as a weapon," he said.........
the pregame show had a segment called 'Jacked Up,'
Berman and Jackson hosting IIRC... used to love that segment.
But not all hits were glorified... just ask Tatum...
Below is probably my favorite hit ever...
Clip unfortunately does cut out Atwater's follow-up question for Okoye... "Are you crying?"
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