When I started this blog, I fully intended on posting something every single week during the season… but that quickly changed. We’re three games in and already facing some tough decisions.
Three plays into the first game of the season, my boyfriend was stepped on by a 250+ pound defensive lineman. As a result, he suffered a high ankle sprain. Knowing the kind of man that my boyfriend is, I was already prepared for him to continue playing no matter how much pain he was experiencing. The whole week following the first game he did countless hours of rehab, physical therapy, treatments, etc. to make sure that he was feeling his best for week twos’ game.
In the third quarter of the second game, he was plagued by the same exact fate as the first game. A 300+ pound offensive lineman (on his own team) stepped on his foot. When my boyfriend went to move one way, his foot was stuck under the weight of the guy next to him. Thus, his body went one way, and he foot went the other. Unfortunately, this only worsened the high ankle sprain he had suffered the previous week. Again, I already knew that he was going to grit through the pain and continue playing. Despite the odds being stacked against him, he completed two full games (start to finish, 100+ plays), with a severely sprained ankle.
After week two we prayed that would be the last of the ankle strains and sprains. Thankfully, he made it through the third game with seemingly no issues. He met with the team doctor after game three and the prognosis seemed bright!
Unfortunately, we’d gotten our hopes up too soon.
This past week of practice has been intense. The head coach wasn’t happy with the teams’ performance during the first three games and has been majorly pushing the guys to do better, work harder, move faster, etc. For my boyfriend, this was the exact opposite of what he needed.
Yesterday during practice, he was, yet again, stepped on by a 300+ pound offensive lineman. This time he wouldn’t be as lucky as he had been previously. He said he felt a pop. And not just a ‘normal’ pop/crack like he had been feeling since the initial injury. This time, he needed helped off the field. It took 2 trainers and two of his teammates to carry him to the golf cart. He wasn’t able to walk off under his own will-power. He was carted back to the training room where he was immediately put in a walking boot, given crutches, and sent for an x-ray. The team doctor believes that he has partially torn a tendon/ligament in his ankle. In combination with the high ankle sprain, it has caused massive swelling, and massive pain.
Unfortunately, at this point, his fate is unknown. The doctor has said that as long as there are no broken bones, and he can handle the pain, then he is cleared to play. But, does he play through the pain? Does he risk the rest of his career for this one season? Can he handle the pain week after week?
It hasn’t been the start to the season we had been hoping and praying for. His first season with a solid starting spot and it has been plagued with injuries and unknowns…
This is the side of football that many people don’t have to/get to see. This is the side of football that I ask all of you to keep in mind when you’re watching college football Saturday’s, or NFL football Sunday’s. To many they’re just players on some TV screen. Players that spectators like the nitpick and criticize because they didn’t make that perfect throw, they gave up a critical sack, or they didn’t catch the pass that was right in between their hands.
It’s all well and good to play armchair QB on game day, but until you’re in their shoes, you have no idea the difficulties they may be facing.
thefootballgf 