A story came out today that former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who played 10 years in the NFL all with New England, is in a depressed condition – the result of suffering several head injuries as a player. As Johnson described it to the New York Times and Boston Globe:
Bill Belichick subjected him to hard hits in practice while he was recovering from a concussion — against the advice of the team’s top trainer. Johnson told The New York Times that a collision with another player during [a] 2002 practice led to another concussion. And, after sustaining additional concussions over the next three seasons, he now forgets people’s names, misses appointments and suffers from depression and an addiction to amphetamines.
Belichick responded to the allegations that he prodded Johnson to practice when Ted was not medically cleared to do so:
If Ted felt so strongly that he didn’t feel he was ready to practice with us, he should have told me.
I don’t care to get into the semantics as to whether or not Belichick prodded Johnson into practicing – which I’m guessing he did – as would 99% of football coaches. Unfortunately I must take the viewpoint that Ted Johnson, being a U.S. citizen, acted well within his right of choice, and selected football as his profession.
If Ted Johnson were so concerned with his health, he should have retired prior to his 10 years in the league. Moreover, if Ted Johnson did not want to be in the business of brute force, hard hitting, and paralyzing collisions, he should not have become a football player.
While I feel sympathetic for Johnson’s current condition, I do not feel sympathetic for how he wound up there.
There is not a chance that I would sit back here and say “in retrospect, Belichick should’ve taken it easier on his players.” If that’s not a load of crap then I don’t know what is. You think the Patriots would’ve won 3 Super Bowls with Belichick taking a soft approach to his players? If not, you need to be introduced to the cold hard reality that is the NFL.
The reality is that the NFL is a cut-throat business where players are ready to take your spot as soon as you sit out practice, and coaches get fired as soon as they ease up on players.
If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. I’m truly sorry that Ted Johnson has ended up in such a poor condition, but I highly doubt anyone ever told him that playing football wouldn’t be dangerous.
