LaDainian Tomlinson supports fellow NFL Pro Bowler Shawne Merriman's decision to eschew surgery and play as long as he can with two torn ligaments in his left knee.
"How do you tell a warrior to sit down?" San Diego's star running back said of his teammate. "That's what he is, a warrior. He's trained for this. It's hard to tell a guy to sit down."
That warrior's code is preached continually by NFL coaches: Play through pain.
But too often, following the code has consequences far more serious than who wins the Super Bowl.
That's why Merriman's decision to ignore medical advice is a bad one _ a risk to his career and his future. And if he doesn't do something about it, the San Diego Chargers should.
It's in stark contrast with the situation of another star pass rusher, the New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora, who has been declared out for the season with a knee injury that may not be as severe.
There's also a whiff of the warrior code in the death last week of Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame guard and union leader whose pancreatic cancer wasn't diagnosed until three days before his died.
Merriman, whose 39 1/2 sacks over the last three seasons are the most of any NFL player, has tears in both the posterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in his left knee, injured last December. He visited four different doctors, all of whom told him he needs surgery but left the decision up to him. As a "warrior," he decided he would play. "If you give a football player a decision to play, you know, I'm going to play," he said.
Bad move.
Umenyiora, who led the Giants with 13 sacks during their Super Bowl run last season, tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee last weekend. He had surgery to repair it, almost surely ending his season.
From a medical standpoint, Umenyiora's injury is considered less serious than Merriman's, who eventually will have to undergo an operation that could need eight months of recovery. Umenyiora's recovery time is estimated at four months. If the meniscus had been removed, he might have been ready to play in four weeks, meaning he would be available for most of the regular season.
But he and his team sacrificed the present for a healthier future.
Which brings us to Upshaw, who in the last couple of years of his life had been a target of retired players complaining they were denied long-term disability benefits from injuries incurred while playing. Some were players who had knee or hip replacements; others suffered from worse _ dementia or Alzheimer's from what many believe to be the effects of concussions.
He died on Aug. 20, just three days after he received his cancer diagnosis. That came only after his wife was finally able to convince him to go to a hospital. He had been complaining, according to close friends, that he had no energy.
When friends said his clothes looked too big for him, Upshaw brushed it off, saying he had been working out, as he did regularly.
Obviously, it was more than workouts. But Upshaw's mentality was typical of a Hall of Fame player who missed just one game in a career that ran from 1967-81. He played hurt and lived hurt, always trying to get back in the fray no matter what.
From the player's perspective, it's a complicated issue. How hurt am I? Do I really have to sit out and let everybody down? Will I pay a price?
NFL rules approved just a couple of years ago are aimed at reducing the consequences of injuries. No one can be sent back into a game these days after being knocked out, for instance. And the decision to operate on Umenyiora's knee may help ensure that he'll be walking normally as he ages.
But Merriman's decision, Tomlinson's comment on it, and Upshaw holding out against symptoms that most people wouldn't ignore, demonstrate the difference between many athletes and mere mortals.
Players often think of themselves as bulletproof.
If Shawne Merriman's career, interrupted in 2006 by a four-game steroid suspension, is terminated early because he played when he shouldn't have, blame the warrior mentality. But also blame the people who should have known better.
In three seasons, he's played at an All-Pro level.
It would be a shame if he can't do it for another 10.
