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http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdo...-160141006.html


Former Bengals LB Reggie Williams hoping to avoid amputation after 24 surgeries on mangled right knee



Frank Schwab
Frank Schwab 4 hours ago Shutdown Corner Health







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(USA Today Sports Images)


There are so many sad stories of former NFL veterans in terrible physical condition, and all the stories are important.

When fans complain about the game becoming too soft, they must be ignorant of the stories of former players who can't live a normal life in retirement at a relatively young age. When they speak with scorn about the league trying to put in rules to protect players from injuries, they aren't considering what someone like former Cincinnati linebacker Reggie Williams goes through on a daily basis.

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Williams, who played with the Bengals from 1976-89, started two Super Bowls and is the team's all-time leader among linebackers in most categories including tackles, has had 24 surgeries on his right knee, which looks almost unrecognizable. According to an enlightening story by the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Daugherty, Williams is fighting off amputation of his right leg, which doctors tell him is inevitable. His right leg is almost three inches shorter than his left leg after all the injuries.

Here is what Williams' knee looks like after 24 surgeries, in a photo from the Enquirer's story. It's not pretty:





(Cincinnati Enquirer)


The story, which is a great read and worth the time if you have any compassion for the men who entertain us on Sundays in the fall, details the difficulty Williams has in his day-to-day life.

He hasn't had a meal at home in more than two years because he can't be on his feet very long to cook, the Enquirer said. His house during the summer is between 85 and 90 degrees because he can't use air conditioning, or his knee feels worse. He has had the surgeries, the first coming in 1979, knee replacements and multiple infections (in 2008 he was diagnosed with the bone infection osteomyelitis, which was not identified for two years) that have left his right leg 2 5/8 inches shorter than the other. He has no insurance to cover the pre-existing condition, so he pays for his own rehabilitation. He has battled the NFL and the Bengals for years over disability benefits. The Dartmouth-educated Williams felt the need to retire from a vice president job at Disney in 2007, at age 53, to dedicate himself to rehabilitation and saving his leg, the Enquirer story said.

This is what 14 NFL seasons and 206 games can do to a man.

2 thought processes:

1, he voluntarily played the game. He made a boat load of money doing that.

2. He played the game, retired, got a job at disney, and retired from that.

Yet through it all, he wants the nfl to pay for his disability?

Hasn't eaten at home in 2 years because he can't stand long enough to cook? I find that odd. Perhaps it's a grandstanding comment. How long does it take to put a steak on the grill, sit in a chair beside the grill, and flip the steak over?

Where DOES he eat, if he can't cook for himself? The article makes it sound like he has to go down to the local soup kitchen to eat. How long would he have to stand there?

He has enough money to pay for his own rehab.........but can't afford to get meals on wheels? Can't afford to pay someone to cook for him? Come in one day, make a weeks worth of food, let him use the microwave?

It's a sad story, no doubt. He sacrificed his body to play the game and make money.

But when sacrificing your body for the game and the money bites him in the butt........we get this?

Sadly - or wonderfully, there are hundreds upon hundreds of guys - thousands, that played the game, and don't have his problems.

He played the game by his own free will. He accepted the checks. He accepted the surgeries.....my guess is so he could get more game checks.

It is sad. No doubt. If every nfl player ended up like this, I would say something should be done. If half the players ended up like this, I would say something should be done. He played how long? 13 years? He accepted the checks........he accepted the surgeries. That's a cold stance, I know. I apologize for it, yet I don't.

I'd like him to tell his sob story about not being able to eat at home to every vet coming home without limbs.... and then he sure as Hell had better pony up to buy them dinner.

Why? Because those vets will cook for themselves, and those vets will keep on fighting. Those guys will get it done.


Talk to this guy (and this photo is real. My girlfriend just did a Spartan in Virginia this past weekend and these guys were there).

What happened to him was a freak thing (I'd even say, to the point that he's no different than one of those people that randomly passes out, or goes in for a routine doc visit and finds out they have some crazy condition that's just about to explode on them).

Medical treatments (implants, surgeries, etc) weren't as sophisticated back then as they are now. He got a bunch of infections, and now his knee/leg is a mess. That pic of his knee is pretty gnarly. He probably should just cut the thing off and be done with it.

It's too bad, though. He retires from a long career in the NFL to become a VP at a company like Disney. There are very very few people that can do that.

I totally agree - I can't say for certainty what I would do in tht situation but I think at some point I saw screw it and just take the leg and give me a prosthesis... I know that would be a lot to deal with too but man I don't know if I could put up with that pain for so long....

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This is what 14 NFL seasons and 206 games can do to a man.

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No, that's what over two years of an untreated infection can do to a man. Granted the surgery required for the injuries upped the risk of infection, but to say playing football caused this is quite a stretch.

Wow, that's one horrible looking knee. Yikes

Anyway, he's looking at nothing more than what our troops look at. Except he should have the money to cover his life.