In his 14 seasons, Lilly never missed a game. I'm telling you about it right now: I hurt. Nicknamed The Brute, Trafton broke the leg and ended the career of halfback Fred Chicken by throwing him into a fence. FRONTLINE Watch FRONTLINE Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff said, Hardy Brown was a designated hitter. I can't perform like I used to for a lot of different things physically, but I don't think it's directly connected to the brain. I saw the bone. Doesn't say anything. But a lot of guys no longer get the "Hey, Joe, how you doing. " Since then, only three players have been suspended for the minimum four weeks for a first offense. He only called timeout one time and that was to reset his broken nose. Kilroy denied the charge. In addition to playing offensive center at UM, he also played linebacker on defense. Also, once the NFL became a billion-dollar business about 1980, teams became less likely to risk injuries with million-dollar players, and urged them to participate in year-round conditioning, which includes weight training and aerobic exercise. Soon, attorneys were winning workers compensation cases throughout the league, which caused doctors to be more cautious with their diagnoses. When asked why he played through the pain, instead of watching from the sidelines, Smith calmly responded, This is why they pay me., 19. My wife is starting to try to convince me to do it. He went down, then got up and trotted off the field. 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. I was happy for him. and ankle injuries during his three years with the Hurricanes. Ernie Stautner comes in the huddle, and his thumb is broken back against his wrist. Hines Ward, Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers (1998-present). I know he was a great football player. It would become so embarrassing that I stopped going out in public, said Otto, who had his knees drained and injected with painkillers four times a week during his last three playing years. , 39. In a playoff game in 1970, Garrison broke three ribs in the first quarter and continued playing after he was carried off the field. His claim to fame occurred in 1985 when his left pinkie was caught between the shoulder pads and helmet of Cowboys running back Timmy Newsome, shattering the bone. The young people that are coming out and playing football today, I want them to continue to play football; I want them to have fun playing football. Coaches had a way of making you feel less manly if you didnt play. He was issued jersey number 50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar 00 the next season. Flat-out refusedthat is, until the league made him. He was middle linebacker for the Packers. If they enjoy hitting somebody, let them hit people; let them play football. He had a game-winning tackle of future Hall of Fame running back Jim Taylor in the closing seconds of the Eagles 17-13 win in 1960. Bronko Nagurski, Running Back, Chicago Bears (1930-1937, 1943), As Giants linebacker Johnny Dell Isola said during their playing days years ago, I had heard a lot about him, but I thought most of it was exaggerated. Steve McNair, Quarterback, Houston/Tennessee Oilers & Titans & Baltimore Ravens (1995-2007). You got your nose broken, right? 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. 30. WebJim Otto This article was written by Rich Shmelter For 15 seasons, the 00 on Jim Ottos uniform stood out like a beacon. Bob Lilly, Defensive Tackle, Dallas Cowboys (1961-1974). Ever since the NFL began random drug testing in 1990, the consensus among players, coaches and team medical personnel is that steroid use has dropped significantly. Jim Otto played before my time as a fan but I know his name and looked forward to reading his story. In 1958, with three broken ribs and a punctured lung, he led the Colts to the NFL title while wearing a protective harness. Or Boston, one of those, or North Carolina. 6. He then went on to play collegiate football at Miami. Is there something about Wisconsin, or is it something about how you just approached that position itself, the center? My first thoughts were, I got sick. WebJim Otto (born January 10, 1992) is a retired American football Offensive Tackle. He spit in the face of Eagles safety Bill Bradley as he lay injured on the ground. There were so many times that I would walk off the field and my eyes would be crossed. NFL tough guy was fined for: kicking fullback Larry Centers in the head (1995); breaking Kerry Collins' jaw on a preseason helmet-to-helmet hit (1997); throwing a football at linebacker Bryan Cox and hitting him in the groin (1999); punching tight end Tony Gonzalez (1999); and breaking the eye socket of teammate Marcus Williams in a scrimmage, forcing him to retire (2003). 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.. We met at the line of scrimmage, and you could hear the thud all over the Polo Grounds. 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. Minutes later, he set up the winning touchdown with a fake handoff. In 1972, he thought he broke his back on a hit by a Minnesota Vikings linebacker, so he crawled off the field. We hear about the concussions and talk about the big plays like cornerbacks hitting wide receivers after they've caught the ball up in the air. Davis.". And we were together a lot. Is that what you're saying? We'd attack the bunker, and the quarterbacks would be sitting in a tank with the general saying, 'Well, what kind of attack are you planning?' But you're saying there are issues? Former Los Angeles Raiders offensive lineman Curt Marsh, who retired in 1987, had his right foot and lower leg amputated Sept. 21. Fencik, a Bears safety, speaks about a hit that occurred in practice. Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor revolutionized pro football in the 1980s. I think if you were to look at me and evaluate me, it was a matter of pride. I wanted people to respect me.. When you talk about your knees, legs, those kind of things, those kinds of injuries, clearly related to football, I mean, you know when these injuries started probably and all that. NAPA, Calif. -- Hall of Fame center Jim Otto recently had his right leg amputated and is recovering in a hospital in Utah. Lavine, now the University of Marylands team doctor, agrees with Huizenga, but adds the pressure does not come solely from owners, but also from coaches, parents and especially players. His head still down, Nagurski ran full speed into the brick outfield wall there at Wrigley Field. After the game, we go into the locker room and he says, Hey Doc, I think I got a problem. Andy Russell, linebacker, 36. As a 248-pound defensive end, he played in 282 consecutive games. It was really bad. I'm over here, I had a couple dozen concussions or more, and I hurt. If anybody tells you anything different, then they are dumber than I think they are., Krueger replied: Oh yeah, wait till some of these guys turn 65, and they have a bad heart, crummy knees or a screwed-up personality. Lewis missed two games, returned wearing a heavy brace, and registered 11 tackles against Pittsburgh. In the Eagles' next game, against the Giants, McDonald caught three touchdowns and returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown. We need people in the National Football League now, and I think we have various different projects going within the NFL -- the NFL Players Association, the NFL Alumni -- to help these guys now, because I did go to the Alumni, I did go to the Players Association and get monies from them for other rehabs for other players. Jim Otto, center for the Oakland Raiders, poses on Aug. 15, 1970. Favre has played through unbelievable injuries, including a broken and sprained thumb on his right hand, a badly sprained left ankle, a sprained left foot, a sprained left knee, a torn ligament in his left knee, a severely bruised left hip, and a separated left shoulder. You wouldnt believe the number of divorces when the big money stops coming in. Do you feel like those injuries that they suffered, those hits that they took on the line, like you took, contributed to their illnesses? Well, I'm trying in my mind not to relate that to my situation, you know. You did though, that was during practices they would do that? 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. And that's why we played. How much did Jim Otto weigh when playing? 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. Doesn't show it to anybody. Theyre still in that state of denial. There was about 150 people come, and naturally I wanted to play well and everything. WebJim Otto: The Pain of Glory is the story about a man who fought through numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and a myriad of other maladies. Well, the rules and regulations today have really changed football to a certain degree because of the contact rules. In 1995, Nagurski was honored when the Football Writers Association of America voted to have his name attached to college footballs Defensive Player of the Year trophy. 190-pound linebacker Hardy Brown was the hardest-hitting player who ever lived. Two years later Unitas played the entire season with a broken vertebrae. We havent seen the worst yet.. As a rookie, he was notorious for threatening veterans and starting fights in training camp. Ray Lewis, Linebacker, Baltimore Ravens (1996-present). Both the pain and the glory are relived this week as Jim, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fames Class of 1980, steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight. Here's the last question. I mean, they used to tease me that instead of having the quarterback go "Hut one, hut two," they'd have a little bell, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, you know, and Otto, you go on the third ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, like a punch-drunk fighter or something --. He also received fines for three illegal hits in the 1999 season. And anything that we would do, it was part of our lineage, part of our genes, part of what our family had given us, the will to be the best. I'm going to meet you someplace in there, and maybe one of us is going to lose a leg. He waited six months between artificial knees 5 and 6 after fighting off an infection that nearly took his life. Double-zero recalls stories about all There wasn't anybody. 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. He tells a very straightforward biography of himself, deals out very little dirt but tells it as he sees it. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, the first year he was eligible. He was called the John Wayne of Football by John Madden. Among Doblers principal offenses were biting, gouging, punching, kicking, and grabbing the face mask.