Almost all athletes have to bear a brutal physical tolerance to make themselves as a player and survive in the league and concussion is a night terror for them in this regard that did not leave the four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers also.
Rodgers recently began a new chapter with the Jets after an 18-year successful run with the Packers. But even though the quarterback sustained numerous injuries throughout his time in the NFL, he will always remember the one involving his first concussion, which caused him fear that he could potentially lose his sense of vision.
Aaron Rodgers recalls his first concussion due to a blow from London Fletcher
Though all injuries of the players bring about a certain drawback for the players and limit their playing abilities, head injuries are the top priority among the players as sometimes returning to the field after a concussion can be a life-threatening act for the players.
That one injury let the former Packers quarterback also suffer twice in 2010 that he recalled in an appearance on “Any Given Wednesday” with Bill Simmons in 2016.
The 39-year-old revealed on the show that his first concussion came against the Washington Commanders as three people converged on him and London Fletcher hit the side of his head which let him experience his first concussion. The player had such a terrible time that he was only able to see a silver-metallic color out of one eye.
“I had a bizarre metallic — one eye went metallic. I could only see out of my right eye… I got hit. We were playing Washington. I got hit by like three guys on a blitz. London Fletcher came around and he was one of three guys that kind of hit me. Side of the head… Yeah. It went out — it was just metallic. It was like a silver metallic in the left side.”
The second concussion of his NFL career occurred when the Packers visited the Detroit Lions in the same year. Despite his inability to recall the event following his concussion, he insisted that he continued to play despite being checked on the field by referee Gene Steratore.
“The second one, I was knocked out for a split second and then I got up and my chinstrap was across my nose and you could see Gene Steratore, one of my favorite referees, and he kind of comes over to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, you OK?’ And I don’t remember this, but I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine. So there was a timeout called, I went over to the sideline, I waved off [the medical staff], ‘I’m good, I’m good.’
“It’s kind of what’s just built into you. And then I went back out there for a couple plays, I couldn’t call the plays and we ended up getting me out of there.”
Who has had the most concussions in NFL history?
Many players are unaware of the disease because they are unable to recognize the concussion symptoms through self-monitoring. Concussions differ from person to person and circumstance to circumstance. However, among those who have experienced this risky injury, former NFL player Brett Favre tops the list because he estimates that throughout his 20-year career, he suffered from nearly 1,000 concussions.
Although the definitions and symptoms of the concussions changed Fabre’s perception, which he revealed in a radio interview, he once believed he had only three concussions throughout his playing career.
“If you had asked me this 10 years ago, how many concussions I had, I would have said three,” Favre said. “The reason I would have said three, I thought concussions were where you get knocked out, where you black out, for a period of time you don’t know where you are, memory loss, dizzy. A boxer gets knocked and tries to get up, his legs are rubber. That’s a concussion.”
Over the years concussions have arisen as a major headache for the players as we can see how Damar Hamlin survived in a deadly way which led the authority to suspend the game.
It is high time for the NFL authority to force more focus on this underrated injury.
