jim otto injuries

Hitting harder than anyone else was very important to us. He has fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections to his arthritic joints, and almost died on the handicapped table once. Was that right? In 1997, Otto's daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot. Why? In 1951 alone, he knocked out 21 players. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. Marsh played with the Raiders seven years, during which he was hospitalized 18 times and had 13 surgeries. Ray Lewis, Linebacker, Baltimore Ravens (1996-present). Dick Butkus, Linebacker, Chicago Bears (1965-1973), Dick Butkus was the angriest, most ferocious, menacing, and yes, toughest player to ever play the game of football. He has played through numerous injuries, including a broken bone in his back. Football is a contact sport, and injuries are a part of the game. The desire of Ray Lewis to be the greatest linebacker in NFL history is fueled by an inner toughness that manifests itself on the football field. 28. You are fully responsible for your comments. I was paid to play football, not hang out in the training room.. I was at a gathering in August, I guess it was, and Jim Brown was there, and he was saying the same thing, that it was different back then. Thats one of the major reasons why so many of these guys walk with limps.. WebIn addition to his football injuries, Otto also had two strokes, three heart attacks, and diabetes which caused blindness in one eye. Steve McNair is the definition of playing through pain. Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Ernie Holmes once sat on a bridge and shot at passing trucks, and then was arrested for shooting a police officer in the leg before surrendering. 11. Mark Bavaro, Tight End, New York Giants & Cleveland Browns & Philadelphia Eagles (1985-1990, 1992-1994). And he hung with me. Im not out for revenge or anything, but I do think they took advantage of my loyalty.. 25. In 1997, he spit in the face of wide receiver JJ Stokes. Earl Campbell, Running Back, Houston Oilers & New Orleans Saints (1978-1985), I can't think of anyone who even comes in a close second, when you say, Running backswho really hurts? Ernie Stautner, Defensive Tackle, Pittsburgh Steelers (1950-1963). Nagurski became a professional wrestler after his NFL career and was a two-time world heavyweight champion. Now, nobody in America knows that, like they know about the guy who had a concussion, like the guy who is in class-action suits, suing the National Football League because they had a concussion. He had his right leg amputated in 2007. His right leg was eventually amputated in 2007. Otto went down with a torn ACL. If you get hit in the head and a little dizziness comes out of it, you've suffered a concussion. Now, when you're telling, I guess it was maybe in your book, that you talked about the hit that you took from Ray Nitschke, when you -- I guess it was your nose. Nobody is giving me any special help. Nicknamed Rambo for his tough play and physical resemblance to Sylvester Stallone, Bavaro broke seven tackles on one catch across the middle against the 49ers in a 1986 game. Now, you were talking about Webster and how he would approach the game. What is the result exactly? You got hit in the head, and you had amnesia. I look at Dave Dalby, because he used to tell me he wanted to follow me in my footsteps. Immediately everybody rushes to blame football or blame some other thing happened in their life either socially, emotionally or psychologically. I have issues, yes, I have issues. The highs an athlete gets from the highly selective field makes it hard for them to settle into another pursuit. Why? Fencik, a Bears safety, speaks about a hit that occurred in practice. 12. In the 1968 regular season, Oakland scored 453 points (32.4 points/game), once again leading the AFL, beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round before losing to the Jets. What about these memory issues or anything like that involving your thinking? Larry Csonka, Fullback, Miami Dolphins & New York Giants (1968-1974, 1976-1979). I've had scans of my brain, and it's been explained to me what is really wrong with my brain. It's incredibly debatable, but here is my attempt to rank them in order for toughness. In the Eagles' next game, against the Giants, McDonald caught three touchdowns and returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown. No matter how many passes youve caught or touchdowns youve thrown, thats nice, but it doesnt mean anything in the real world., The transition period isnt always smooth, said Yaras-Davis, noting that the average career of a player is less than four years. ISIS is in Afghanistan, But Who Are They Really? In 1999, he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. I'm going to be just like you, Pops." Then there's the toughness a person has, an aura, that he can intimidate other people by his play or his toughness.. And Nitschke, it was right toward the end of his career, and he was I guess letting Carter get some time in there. He's probably one of the best known retired NFL players to do that. How much did Jim Otto weigh when playing? In 1990, four players were suspended. A lot of things. Csonka also broke his nose 10 times in his career, causing it to be permanently deformed, and would remain in the game despite blood pouring out of it. I am really sore, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to take care of that. Bavaro's play inspired the Giants, who went on to win the game, and the Super Bowl. 1. You seem completely with it and pulling up words and memories and having no problems at all. Walter Payton, Running Back, Chicago Bears (1975-1987). Concertgoer lets out a loud full body orgasm while L.A. Phil plays Tchaikovskys 5th, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! There have been times when Ive said, Whyd I do this?, But I wasnt going to lay there and whine. His first words: Did we score? Believe it or not, Plasman suffered from blindness and post-concussion syndrome until his death at age 67 in 1981. It is, because there's some people who think there's a connection between all those hits that you take and suicide, like there's a physiological connection there, you know? There's a battle, and that battle is going on. After no National Football League team showed interest in the undersized center, Otto signed with the Oakland Raiders of the new American Football League. Do you feel like that's associated with football, too? Well, when that tackler -- in so many cases, if you watch the television, you watch the film, you see that tackler coming in with his head and his shoulders, which he's been taught to use to tackle his whole life. When I retired I was down. Butkus's opponents claimed that Butkus was like an odor that you could feel or sense on the field. But many former players are experiencing health problems after the spotlight dims, the celebrity fades and they cease to be larger than life. He played with pain and didn't come out. There is a new level of information, and they've done some good studies on it, which are very important. It's strange; it's really strange. All that action in the trenches nearly every offensive and special teams snap for a decade and a half came with a high price, however. But a number of former players, including receiver Al Toon of the New York Jets and running back Vic Washington of the 49ers, developed post-traumatic stress disorder. During his first 10 years he suffered the usual injuries such as broken noses, fingers and ribs, and he played through it all. And we were together a lot. Some play with injuries because they fear they might lose their job or position and their self-concept and identity. I know that all of us guys I know in some way, shape or form have down times, when there's a certain amount of depression in our minds and our thoughts, in our heart, and it's not a very comfortable situation. According to the latest NFLPA survey, conducted in 1990, more than one-third of 645 players whose careers began as early as 1940 and ended no later than 1986 retired because of disabling injuries. Kilroy denied the charge. They didn't do that to me, but they would, they would always accuse me of that and they would razz me about it, you know? It's just a physical battle in there, that you have to do. Let them play it the way it's supposed to be played, the way the rules are, and don't keep changing the rules. Rocky Bleier, Running Back, Pittsburgh Steelers (1968, 1971-1980). Corporate Sponsorship And that's what I'm doing. American Football Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. He played a game against the Saints with a dislocated shoulder. Left and right arrows move across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus had a similar situation with the Bears. Yeah, just on the line, hitting each other. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. The only first-team All-AFL center in the leagues 10-year history, Jim helped the Raiders rise from a 9-33 start in their first three years of existence to a team that won seven division titles and an AFL title and made a Super Bowl appearance before he retired. Two years ago, Detroit Lions guard Mike Utley took a hit and suffered severe spinal damage, leaving him nearly a quadriplegic. For the next fifteen years, Otto became a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. And then the next game you did that snap that you're --. And then being in that position to hit the ball, the runner drops his head, the quarterback drops his head or whatever it might be, and you have head-to-head contact. You're the tackler, and you get fined. It all swelled up, and I couldn't see, but I kept playing. Well, in some cases guys are heroes, and all of a sudden they're not heroes. And that's the way we played. Ray Lewis has won a Super Bowl MVP, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and has earned nine Pro Bowl invitations. In 1974, he used a cast on his broken left hand as a weapon. The former Titans star quarterback has injured nearly every part of his body at one time or another. He went down, then got up and trotted off the field. Going across the middle against Dick Butkus was considered attempted suicide. 21. Could someone please explain to me why Jim Marshall is not in the Hall of Fame? And it's a good hit. "Double O" starred for Wausau East, but even after college was considered Dobler punched Pittsburghs Mean Joe Greene in the solar plexus and kicked the Rams Merlin Olsen in the head. However, they came back stronger in 1972, scoring 365 points (26.1 points/game), 3rd of 26 teams in the NFL, but lost 13-7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round of the 1972-73 NFL playoffs, the infamous and outrageous (from Oakland's point of view) Immaculate Reception game. Well, the results with myself, you know, has been very difficult. 30. So he stayed there for the rest of the series, and then we came off, and I'm watching him because I'm the only guy who saw that he had a compound fracture. James Edwin Otto (born January 5, 1938 in Wausau, Wisconsin) is a former center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League. Jim Otto is 6-2 (188 cm) tall. Jim Otto: The Pain of Glory is the story about a man who fought through numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and a myriad of other maladies. I'm sure he would. He liked to think that his best hits border on felonious assault., 14. The AFL permitted the unusual number because it was a pun on Otto's name (aught-oh). 40. As a rookie, he was notorious for threatening veterans and starting fights in training camp. And I think if you were to evaluate Mike Webster, it was a matter of pride. Romanowski played in 243 consecutive games, a record for a linebacker, and played for four Super Bowl champions. And with your head traumas, with the head injuries, tell me about one in particular. Web Site Copyright 1995-2016 WGBH Educational Foundation And it's not being selfish, not on my behalf being selfish because I can't do it, and I would want it. I said why isn't there somebody taking care of him? Throughout his Hall of Fame career, this three-time NFL MVP played with a number of injuries, including a badly broken nose, broken fingers, ripped arm tendons, and torn knee cartilage. Today, he tours the country giving motivational speeches. When Giants defensive tackle Jim Pietrzak wished him good luck in the playoffs, he punched him. Since then, only three players have been suspended for the minimum four weeks for a first offense. What's going on? He is regarded as the second dirtiest player in the NFL and a 2008 poll revealed that one of the scariest things in the NFL is being blocked by Runyan on a screen pass. It's a tough sport. If they enjoy hitting somebody, let them hit people; let them play football. He was called the John Wayne of Football by John Madden. Injuries and operations During one six-month stretch, he was without a right knee joint because he had to wait for an infection to heal before another artificial knee could be implanted. He got beat up so bad in his early years. Losing my leg didn't bother me one bit other than I wanted to make sure that my wife still loved the guy with one leg. Otto's body was punished greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 74 operations, including 28 on his knee (nine of them during his playing career) and multiple joint replacements. I wanted to play. Otto punished his body greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career alone) and multiple joint replacements. Unitas missed most of the 1968 season due to injury but returned in the Super Bowl to lead Baltimore on its only touchdown drive in a 16-7 loss to the Jets. Almost no one leaves this game unscarred either physically or mentally.. Stillwell, who played only three seasons with the Bears, walks with a cane. I don't make want to make excuses. And I think it's very unfair. I bit his ear. Kilroy, who played back in the days when offensive linemen weren't allowed to extend their arms to block, was considered the dirtiest player in the NFL, and he helped Philadelphia win back-to-back NFL championships. During the 1980s, Otto was involved in numerous business ventures. I don't have knees anymore. Big was in.. Its not for whiners.. He has a compound fracture of the thumb. Doctors can pressure players who dont think they will ever get hurt or the ones who think they have only a few years left to make money.. Minutes later, he set up the winning touchdown with a fake handoff. What do you mean by that? Davis.". Theyre still in that state of denial. Coaches had a way of making you feel less manly if you didnt play. And you couldn't remember. Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. It was a matter of pride in the way we did things. The NFLPA report found that of the players leaving the game because of injury, 70.6% had emotional problems some time during the sixth-month transition period after football. He ran 32 times for 168 yards and caught 10 balls for 61 yards. WebBut Jim, remembering that his college injuries had all come when he was on defense, chose to let down a little during defensive tryouts and then really go all out when it came time for offensive team trials. Five years later, in 2002, Otto was stricken with prostate cancer, though the cancer is currently in remission. I was depressed because I wasn't running out on the field anymore, when they announced "At center, Jim Otto." Jim cant walk through an airport without the metal detectors going off, said Miki Yaras-Davis, director of benefits for the NFL Players Association. And then there's the injured tough, which is no-regard-for-your-body-and-play-with-broken-bones tough. I played football because I loved the game, and I did everything I could to win, and people knew that, Jim said. I don't like concussions. Damn fools. Website design & development by americaneagle.com copyright 2021 Pro Football hall of fame all rights reserved, Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls, Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic. Did you ever have that happen to you? Yes, Id do it all again. Plasman refused to wear a helmet. But I don't think you can blame it -- I don't know. And from what I understand and read -- never met him -- it does sound like he played that game exactly like you described. A Jim Otto is doing this every play. I can't really explain it to you here. I've had over 20 concussions myself, and I don't like them.

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