Darryl Talley is one of the best players in Buffalo Bills franchise history, and the man is paying the price for sacrificing his body throughout his 14-year playing career.
The Buffalo News published a lengthy piece on Talley Wednesday night that is a must-read item.
The feature details the pain and struggles Talley is living with on a daily basis. He is 54 years old, suffering from memory loss, depression and poor health. His body aches so much that he cannot sleep more than 90 minutes at a time. He has had such a difficult time in his post-playing career that he has contemplated suicide on multiple occasions.
“When you go through the s— that I’ve gone through, you start to wonder: Is this really worth it? Is it worth being here, worth being tortured anymore?
“It would be just as easy to call it a day. But there are two reasons why I won’t. First of all, my parents didn’t raise a coward. The most important is I want to be around for my grandkids,” Talley told The News.
The two-time Pro Bowl linebacker who helped lead the Bills to four Super Bowls in the ’90s has struggled so much financially because of the failure of his company that he has had to be helped by his former teammates like Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett. They came together to help pay the deposit on the rent for the Talleys’ home in Florida. Worst of all, Talley believes the organization and league to which he sacrificed his body turned their backs on him.
“It’s the most disappointing thing ever to go out and play and to stand up for that shield and then to have them f— you the way they do,” Darryl Talley said. “I put team and league in front of everything, in front of my family.”
Talley wishes the Bills would do more to help him. He also feels like he got boned by the league because he has a type B disability plan, rather than the type A plan to which he believes he is entitled.
“When you’re done playing,” Darryl Talley said, “you’re like a piece of meat. They treat you like, ‘None of what you say is our fault. None of these injuries happened from playing football.’
Talley was a warrior for the Bills. He only missed one game in 12 seasons with Buffalo and five over his entire career. Missing so few games requires a player to play through injuries, and Talley did that multiple times.
[Related: Talley upset Vince Young didn’t show him proper respect]
The former linebacker guesses he suffered at least 100 concussions. He can’t tie a tie or flip up his collar. He says he was informed after his career that he had a broken neck. And guess what? Talley says he was cleared by the Bills to play the next game each time he had a neck injury. He also says the team claimed it didn’t have his medical records available when he called for them.
So if Talley is struggling so much, why does he stick around? Because the man wants to see his kids grow old. He wants to see his grandchildren. But it won’t be easy living day-to-day until that time comes.
