The Wish of an NFL Wife

[axman40]

by Jaclyn Fujita
I am a pro football player’s wife and my husband has been knocking heads for the last twenty-plus years. We choose this path. The burden—whatever it may be—rests on our shoulders. This was the dream we decided to chase.
Honestly, though, I don’t know that we were fully aware of the ultimate reality of the National Football League. We learned the hard way that he would work his ass into the ground, playing every defensive down and special teams, and would be the lowest paid man on the roster. That he would experience multiple concussions, but remain on the field. That he would suffer full ligament tears and shouldn’t have been walking, but team doctors would tell him it was a “minor sprain” and should still play. That even though you have given your heart and soul to a team, they can easily replace you with a rookie who has never played in the NFL before.
My husband could have lost his life to a staph infection. His NFL doctors and trainers were heating/icing/stemming his knee for a bursa-sac rupture and ignoring all the major signs of infection, while his body was screaming that something else must be wrong. He ended up in an emergency operation weeks after symptoms began. Following five nights in hospital isolation and many weeks beating back the infection, he was ready to play for the city we love and a team we built our life around. He would help them win the coveted Super Bowl Championship. Less than a month later he would be gone, feeling completely expendable and replaceable as if his blood, sweat and tears did not matter.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159361/wish-nfl-wife
:tiphat:

[disaacks3]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but "that's the life HE chose".

The Saints were the THIRD team he played for.

If the Doctors 'misdiagnosed' him, that's another can of worms entirely, but I'm having a hard time generating tears for a guy who recently signed a contract for FAR more $ than I will make in my lifetime. (14mil / 3yrs, 8 guaranteed)

And here they are, simply asking the men who profit from their work, to please look after their health, as they should have done throughout their career. Gee, I wish my employer looked after MY health...I've always had to do that myself.

[RazorOye]

a guy who recently signed a contract for FAR more $ than I will make in my lifetime. (14mil / 3yrs, 8 guaranteed)

this was why he left NO - I always thought he was pretty adored by the city (can't say anything about the Front Office) and that the Saints wanted to have him back. I mean, you've seen our LB corps - why would we NOT want him?

But it became a matter of cost. Pure and simple. A 31-year-old LB who had dealt with some injuries and who had only gotten slower. Great guy, hardnosed player - I like Fujita a lot. But the OLB position is one of weakness and we needed to get stronger and faster and younger. Our Front 7 is our worst group on the field, either side of the ball (well, maybe special teams :facepalm:) and we had and still have a lot of FA's we need to sign who are more important to the team.

I have no doubt that the Saints would have loved to bring him back but it was a matter of price - much as I like the guy, I'd think we'd be foolish to sign him for 3 years at nearly 5 mil/year on avg.

And most other fans I know understood it and root for him even though he's a Brown now. It was likely going to be his last chance on a multi-year deal, so take the cash.

The Saints would have been foolish, imo, to offer that.

And Fujita would have been foolish, imo, to pass it up.

The closing of her letter is, for me, about as ridiculous as a fan claiming that they felt cheated by a Saint who refused to stay in NO for a shorter, cheaper contract with a hometown discount, instead opting to take more years and money somewhere else. That New Orleans was, for him, replaceable and expendable. Meh... it's football. It's business.

[Wolf6151]

If you feel that team doctors misdiagnosed your injury then go to a private doctor on your time and get a 2nd opinion, same goes for the staff infection. You've got the money and can afford an office visit.