Quote
waterfield
IMO money he gets paid should not be part of the equation. Its simply a matter of health. If medical experts such as an orthopedic surgeon say his post football life will be limited and filled with often unbearable pain, should he be used on the field as if his knee was fine, I would honor that advice. I know people with arthritic knees-some are more affected than others. One of my closest friends raced sailboats up to about 4 yrs ago is essentially unable to walk let alone climb back into his now sold yacht. Following structural surgery similar to Gurley's he developed arthritis in his knee. I know the pain he suffers and anyone that says money can lessen the discomfort is a fool.He cannot walk up stairs. He is so limited in his life that it impacts his view of life. I also remember games at the Coliseum and Anaheim where retired famous Rams were honored. Very few were able to walk to the center of the field without canes, crutches and often wheelchairs. I think us fans tend to look at these players as if they were caricatures in a Madden video game. Were not really concerned about the human element-we only care about on the field performance-which is precisely the same thought pattern when playing a video game. We really don't care-and likely never did-about the human being once he is no longer on the team. The whole business about "he signed a contract for big money and he should play until he can't" just proves my point.
I agree with every thing said, but to go there in total we would honestly have to give this game up. They choose to play this game for whatever the reason, we all did at one time or another. They are our gladiators they play until they can not. Just like your bud he choose
to race sailboats because he loved it in hindsight I doubt he would have stoped if knew of the pain that would eventually ensue.People choose to become cops and fireman knowing the risks,athletes do the same, nobody is twisting any ones arm here .... Money
never matters in the final analysis.
