Nate Jackson recounts his NFL injuries and treatments

[NoSaint]

Another long form deadspin article I only have begun to read but I know others will be interested. Its a former player recounting his struggles to stay healthy and treatment behind the scenes. Bills relevant, he touches on his issues with Plantar Fasciitis -- also topics that have been discussed on here with torodol and other drug treatments, and constantly playing through injuries and feeling the weight of team expectations. Jackson played for shanahan in denver too, so theres that.

 

Similar to the Jason Taylor article from last year but much longer and more in depth. even includes excerpts from a lot of his actual medical reports.

 

http://deadspin.com/my-injury-file-how-i-shot-smoked-and-screwed-my-way-1482106392

 

also should have some sex drugs and rock n roll in the article, but i havent gotten that far.

Edited December 12, 2013 by NoSaint

[BuffaloBill]

Ugh ... No wonder these guys on average live a shorter life span. I would guess his is not an unusual situation.

[Mr. WEO]

He makes a point to say he had to subpoena the Broncos to get his "injury notebook", yet all had to do was request from any physician or health care provider who ever examined or took care of him a copy of any and all medical records of any care he received. They would have to provide it (for the sum of the copying expense). Ditto for any radiology facility--they would have to provide any and all reports and copies of films at his request.

 

He may not have gotten that trainer's file on him, but he would have gotten copies of any medical reports in it.

[JohnC]

He makes a point to say he had to subpoena the Broncos to get his "injury notebook", yet all had to do was request from any physician or health care provider who ever examined or took care of him a copy of any and all medical records of any care he received. They would have to provide it (for the sum of the copying expense). Ditto for any radiology facility--they would have to provide any and all reports and copies of films at his request.

 

He may not have gotten that trainer's file on him, but he would have gotten copies of any medical reports in it.

 

Why should he have to scramble around and go to all the differrent doctors he has seen when the team has all the accumulated records in one spot? In addition, while the outside doctors are turning in their results to the team the team medical staff is also making reports that might be contradictory to the reports made by the outside medical staff.

 

It is very important to know what is in the in-house and outside medical reports. If the in-side staff is recommending a player should continue playing when the outside is recommending that the player not play, then that clearly is an important fact to know.

 

There is no good ethical reason why the player's medical records from the organization shouldn't be given to the player. The organization is deliberately creating hurdles to keep informatiion away from the player and his legal representative because it might demonstrate a lack of good faith in the way they treated the player.

 

The league settled a lawsuit with the retired players because they knew that they had medical information that they hid from the players that would damage their position and cost them a lot of money. The teams very often acted with purposeful obstruction to cover their unethical arses.

Edited December 13, 2013 by JohnC

[boyst]

It is very important to know what is in the in-house and outside medical reports. If the in-side staff is recommending a player should continue playing when the outside is recommending that the player not play, then that clearly is an important fact to know.

Wow. So, in another light in a few years we can look back at a similar instance happening right now - RGme vs. the Redskins vs. Shannahan vs. Snyder vs. outside medical professionals

 

Snyder pushing Griffin back while his coach not believing him to be ready the organization pushed him in to action with such a concern over his safety that a national expert was added to the field "just in case" the obvious was to be true.

[JohnC]

 

Wow. So, in another light in a few years we can look back at a similar instance happening right now - RGme vs. the Redskins vs. Shannahan vs. Snyder vs. outside medical professionals

 

Snyder pushing Griffin back while his coach not believing him to be ready the organization pushed him in to action with such a concern over his safety that a national expert was added to the field "just in case" the obvious was to be true.

 

If RGIII got injured to the extent that his career was cut short and his potential earnings abruptly stopped due to decisions made by the medical staff representing the team it wouldn't be surprising if he got legal representation to investigate the murky matter.

Does Dr. Andrews work for the team at the expense of the player's interest? Are there conflicting medical recommendations that the player was not aware of?

 

If that type of career ending situation happened you can be sure that RGIII and his lawyers would demand to see all the medical records that pertained to him. They certainly wouldn't be chasing around to get the records from the various doctors involved. They would go directly to the franchise and get "all" the records housed at the team's facility.

 

The league has worked out a protocol for concussions where independent medical staff make the determination as to whether a player is ready to return to action or not. There are obvious conflict of interests when dealing with injuries. A similar type of competing interests arose with the Jarius Byrd situation. Without a doubt the issue of player's safety is not a simple issue.

Edited December 13, 2013 by JohnC

[DC Tom]

He makes a point to say he had to subpoena the Broncos to get his "injury notebook", yet all had to do was request from any physician or health care provider who ever examined or took care of him a copy of any and all medical records of any care he received. They would have to provide it (for the sum of the copying expense). Ditto for any radiology facility--they would have to provide any and all reports and copies of films at his request.

 

He may not have gotten that trainer's file on him, but he would have gotten copies of any medical reports in it.

 

Considering much (if not most) of his rehab went through the trainer, there was probably very relevant info in the trainer's file that wouldn't appear in the medical reports.

 

As a side note, that was the most awkward description of sex I've seen since the Starr report.

[BADOLBILZ]

Ugh ... No wonder these guys on average live a shorter life span. I would guess his is not an unusual situation.

 

Not true. They live longer on average. The NFLPA commissioned the study expecting a different result no doubt. Retired players were suprisingly not happy to find out that regular people don't take quite as good care of their bodies as pro athletes. Maybe if we all had trainers, vast amounts of money and developed a strong exercise base from our teens thru our 30's then we could live as long as NFL players.

[8-8 Forever?]

Amazing. Tough job. And this guy was only a WR/TE. Imagine how hurt the other positions tend to be, the bigger guys the guys who hit or get hit on every play. Heck I played every down in high school and I was hurt all the time. And that was just crappy little high school. Football is very bad for your body. I still feel some of the injuries now, like 100 years later….

[BuffaloBill]

 

 

Not true. They live longer on average. The NFLPA commissioned the study expecting a different result no doubt. Retired players were suprisingly not happy to find out that regular people don't take quite as good care of their bodies as pro athletes. Maybe if we all had trainers, vast amounts of money and developed a strong exercise base from our teens thru our 30's then we could live as long as NFL players.

 

Interesting.... I'm certainly one of the eggheads who bought into the rhetoric:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/08/18/why-everything-you-hear-about-the-deadly-game-of-football-is-false/

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

Why should he have to scramble around and go to all the differrent doctors he has seen when the team has all the accumulated records in one spot? In addition, while the outside doctors are turning in their results to the team the team medical staff is also making reports that might be contradictory to the reports made by the outside medical staff.

 

It is very important to know what is in the in-house and outside medical reports. If the in-side staff is recommending a player should continue playing when the outside is recommending that the player not play, then that clearly is an important fact to know.

 

There is no good ethical reason why the player's medical records from the organization shouldn't be given to the player. The organization is deliberately creating hurdles to keep informatiion away from the player and his legal representative because it might demonstrate a lack of good faith in the way they treated the player.

 

The league settled a lawsuit with the retired players because they knew that they had medical information that they hid from the players that would damage their position and cost them a lot of money. The teams very often acted with purposeful obstruction to cover their unethical arses.

 

No where in that article does Jackson claim any of what your are suggesting. In fact, the only documents he cuts and pastes are physician's reports and radiology reports. He cites no contradictory recommnedations.

 

And if a patient wants all of his records from many different doctors, he has to sign a release in each Dr's office to get a copy of that Drs records. That's how the system works for all of us. The Broncos are under no obligation to release his medical records to anyone--no more than your insurance company would release to you any medical records they have on you.

 

The players settled their suit against the NFL for pennies on the dollar because their lawyers told them the obvious--it would be impossible to prove that players, who have been playing organized football since childhood, only accumulated their injuries in the NFL. This is particularly true of head injuries/concussions. No medical expert in the world would have testified that these injuries are unique to playing in the NFL. They all would have said that these injuries are accumulated over a complete football career of blows--many of which are not concussive. There is no way the players could have won a big settlement with scientific opinion presented to a jury.

 

The NFL settled to end class action suits, to slow a PR nightmare, and because the settlement cost them essentially nothing.

 

Considering much (if not most) of his rehab went through the trainer, there was probably very relevant info in the trainer's file that wouldn't appear in the medical reports.

 

As a side note, that was the most awkward description of sex I've seen since the Starr report.

 

If there is, Nate Jackson hasn't found those reports, it seems. He cites no such thing.

 

It's hard to know how to react to this article. It's a very well written piece describing a player who would do anything to remain on an NFL roster as his body was falling apart. He doesn't blame his team of the NFL for his fate. HE agreed to every treatment instead of retiring. He even resorted to self treatment with HGH and weed.

 

His conclusion:

 

"But what was the main culprit? The Toradol shots? All the anti-inflammatories and painkillers? My diet? Was it the creatine? Poor treatments of my chronic hamstring injury? Poor health care in general? The steroid injection in the ischial tuberosity two years earlier? Was it the hamstring overcompensating for a weak groin? My weight gain? A weak core? Fatigue? Was it my mind? Was it fate? God? No. None of it. It was football. I played football for a living. THWAP!

What followed was an exercise in desperation—a case study in the slow-burn realization of the bitter end. Soon the season ended and Coach Shanahan was fired. Josh McDaniels was hired, and he cut me along with seemingly a third of the roster. I was without a team for the time in years, but I had plenty of football left in me. At least, that's what I told myself. But my hamstring was ****. The PRP shot didn't work this time. I figured I'd have to do something about that. That something was another needle, this one filled with a banned substance."

Edited December 13, 2013 by Mr. WEO

[NoSaint]

 

It's hard to know how to react to this article. It's a very well written piece describing a player who would do anything to remain on an NFL roster as his body was falling apart. He doesn't blame his team of the NFL for his fate. HE agreed to every treatment instead of retiring. He even resorted to self treatment with HGH and weed.

 

 

since i finished and digested it a little bit, ive come here a few times and started typing and then closed out of my reply because im not really sure what i have to say about it. truth is, its a messy business and this part of it often leaves me conflicted. the "seeing how the sausage is made" is a tough one to take in sometimes.

[JohnC]

 

 

No where in that article does Jackson claim any of what your are suggesting. In fact, the only documents he cuts and pastes are physician's reports and radiology reports. He cites no contradictory recommnedations.

 

And if a patient wants all of his records from many different doctors, he has to sign a release in each Dr's office to get a copy of that Drs records. That's how the system works for all of us. The Broncos are under no obligation to release his medical records to anyone--no more than your insurance company would release to you any medical records they have on you.

 

The players settled their suit against the NFL for pennies on the dollar because their lawyers told them the obvious--it would be impossible to prove that players, who have been playing organized football since childhood, only accumulated their injuries in the NFL. This is particularly true of head injuries/concussions. No medical expert in the world would have testified that these injuries are unique to playing in the NFL. They all would have said that these injuries are accumulated over a complete football career of blows--many of which are not concussive. There is no way the players could have won a big settlement with scientific opinion presented to a jury.

 

The NFL settled to end class action suits, to slow a PR nightmare, and because the settlement cost them essentially nothing.

 

The retired players settled the suit against the league because many of them were in dire financial and medical situations and they were dying off at a rapid rate. They didn't have the luxury of letting the slow wheels of justice to run its course because they were falling by the wayside.

 

The league preferred to settle sooner rather than later because a later settlement after the legal process ran its course could have been much grander.

 

Teams send their players to specialists all the time. The reports go back to the team. There should be no need for the player (retired) to revisit the offices to acquire his medical records where all of them are filed at the facility. If there is a need for a release of the records the team should be able to handle that responsibility. Having the player go to each doctor to get a release for records is an unneccessary hurdle.

 

I have had multiple back surgeries. The surgeon didn't have me acquire the records from the prior surgeon. His office handled that matter. If a release was to be arranged his office handled it. I would have to sign some documents authorizing it but his office would be handling the matter.

 

With respect to the insurance company not being obligated to show their records to a client that is not fully accurate. If there is a dispute regarding coverage, billing and payment the client can resort to legal action to get their records if need be. Sometimes there is a dispute in the categorizing of an illness and the treatment. If in the legal challenge a subpoena is directed toward the insurance company they will comply with the the subpoena.

 

 

 

[fridge]

Makes you wonder about Kyle Williams. Seems to me that he is battling in a similar way, and all the more impressive - is producing. When these guys are day-to-day I really never think about the fact that they're truly going through decisions like which medicine to shoot in their body so the pain is less noticeable on the field.

 

Either that or this Jackson character truly is injury prone.

[NoSaint]

Makes you wonder about Kyle Williams. Seems to me that he is battling in a similar way, and all the more impressive - is producing. When these guys are day-to-day I really never think about the fact that they're truly going through decisions like which medicine to shoot in their body so the pain is less noticeable on the field.

 

Either that or this Jackson character truly is injury prone.

 

id guess its a little of column A and a little of B.

 

As a WR that was asked to bulk up and be a TE (something many suggest as an easy transition) he put a lot of extra weight on a frame that might not have been able to support it as needed, and started taking a lot of hits that he probably wasnt as skilled at taking when compared to a more natural long term TE/FB.

 

that said, im pretty sure we have A LOT of guys fighting similar battles. go to any stevie thread and notice how many of us note that hes been dealing with injuries CONSTANTLY despite his generally good streak of playing. Likewise you mention KW, and ill throw out byrd taking shots weekly last year, and we know levitre was having knee issues (it makes it hard for me to beat them up for wanting to make the most of FA when they finally get there). the list could go on and on and wed likely never even hear about a large percentage of the injuries.

[BADOLBILZ]

Interesting.... I'm certainly one of the eggheads who bought into the rhetoric:

 

http://www.forbes.co...tball-is-false/

 

I had to laugh when I saw that story about Brett Favre not being able to remember his kid's soccer game. Dude, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday. Every person that I know who is over 40 complains about memory loss. Favre's may or may not actually be worse.......that story tells me nothing.......but the whole thing speaks to how there are always people in groups who think they have it worse than everyone else......in this case retired football players think their lives MUST be less fulfilling(or long) than every other aging man because they played a violent sport. They start a lawsuit and then everybody sees an opportunity to cash in. Are some hurt by all of the violent collisions......absolutely. But people in the general population are hurt by having to live a grinding, work-a-day lifestyle which encourages poor health habits. It's the human condition....very few of us get to prance thru life without paying a toll.

[dave mcbride]

Not true. They live longer on average. The NFLPA commissioned the study expecting a different result no doubt. Retired players were suprisingly not happy to find out that regular people don't take quite as good care of their bodies as pro athletes. Maybe if we all had trainers, vast amounts of money and developed a strong exercise base from our teens thru our 30's then we could live as long as NFL players.

http://thebiglead.com/2012/05/09/breaking-down-the-study-on-nfl-life-expectancy/

 

Interesting what this says about the much heavier players of today. We'll know more in 20-30 years ...

[Campy]

We sit here on message boards and scoff at players who are not playing well because they're not at 100%. We wonder what's wrong with them - as if because they are not from WNY they don't love the Bills like we do. When a guy goes down, we yell "get up" at the TV.

 

Sometimes it's easy to forget we're dealing with real people, and that article served as a stark reminder.

 

Thanks for finding and sharing it No Saint.

[Mr. WEO]

since i finished and digested it a little bit, ive come here a few times and started typing and then closed out of my reply because im not really sure what i have to say about it. truth is, its a messy business and this part of it often leaves me conflicted. the "seeing how the sausage is made" is a tough one to take in sometimes.

 

 

Good point.

 

The retired players settled the suit against the league because many of them were in dire financial and medical situations and they were dying off at a rapid rate. They didn't have the luxury of letting the slow wheels of justice to run its course because they were falling by the wayside.

 

The league preferred to settle sooner rather than later because a later settlement after the legal process ran its course could have been much grander.

 

Teams send their players to specialists all the time. The reports go back to the team. There should be no need for the player (retired) to revisit the offices to acquire his medical records where all of them are filed at the facility. If there is a need for a release of the records the team should be able to handle that responsibility. Having the player go to each doctor to get a release for records is an unneccessary hurdle.

 

I have had multiple back surgeries. The surgeon didn't have me acquire the records from the prior surgeon. His office handled that matter. If a release was to be arranged his office handled it. I would have to sign some documents authorizing it but his office would be handling the matter.

 

With respect to the insurance company not being obligated to show their records to a client that is not fully accurate. If there is a dispute regarding coverage, billing and payment the client can resort to legal action to get their records if need be. Sometimes there is a dispute in the categorizing of an illness and the treatment. If in the legal challenge a subpoena is directed toward the insurance company they will comply with the the subpoena.

 

John, your medical records cannot be released without your consent except to your insurer. And nobody goes to their insurer to get their records--they simply go to their doctor's office. It's not a hurdle. It's how your privacy is protected.

 

You almost certainly signed a release at your doctor's office allowing him or her to share your protected info with other doctors/hospitals. It's a standard practice. It allows one doc to call another and get info faxed over without you having to come in again to sign a release.

 

There was no evidence that the Broncos hid anything from Jackson in his team folder.

 

Your claim that the players settled because they were dying off rapidly is not accurate.

[mart]

Informative but sad article, tough to read all the way through. Some players make more in a year

 

than a lot of 9-5 people there entire life, but there is a trade off what it does to their

 

bodies.

 

I recall opening weekend the Bills vs. Pats, a Pats receiver had a groin injury and could

 

hardly walk off the feild at halftime, yet 20 minutes later came back out and could have

 

 

 

gone immediately on Dancing With The Stars. He even helped beat the Bills.

 

Reminded me a a series a few years back on ESPN that I believed the NFL had cancelled

 

after one season. Even though players choose to abuse their bodies in the sport,

 

and and a microcosm of what goes on in society, it is still sad but true.