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- Jan 23, 2013
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My wife's aunt died last week, after a 20 year battle with cancer. She always had a smile on her face and she will be missed. Her daughter Courtney went to UNC. She has moved around the country several times and has several friends that were involved with UNC sports. She gets free tickets to Orioles games and has been to many NFL games. She even dated an NFL player for a few years. Apparently Courtney Brown settled in the Raleigh area and she is close friends with he and his family.
We were at the memorial service for Aunt Pam and the dinner that follows and my wife pointed out that the enormous guy sitting next to her cousin was Courtney something or other from Penn State. I looked and immediately figured it was Courtney Brown, the first overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft and star defensive end for Penn State. I had no idea they were close enough with her cousin to get up at 2:00 AM and come to her mothers funeral but there they were.
I introduced myself and we talked a good bit. It was very interesting to hear his take on the NFL and what it does to players. He played for 8 years and has had many surgical procedures that have extended into his retirement. I wont disclose specifics but will say aside from the usual knee and shoulder stuff he has some pretty severe injuries resulting from the NFL. Fortunately he has good doctors that have been able to help him but it is an ongoing process to this point. The injury was more of an over time type of thing, instead of a sudden, carted off the field type.
He also told me that the speed of the game at the NFL level was so intense that it took him about 3 years for it to slow down for him. By then his body was starting to break down. He now does missionary work abroad and is a great guy. His son does not play football. I wonder why? I mentioned how bad the impact of those crushing hits you see players absorb must be for the body. He told me there was a drill at Penn State where players would line up and run straight into two other players at full speed. It was to develop the ability to hit with maximum impact. He also said it is very difficult to take on two Olinemen at a time and do it at practice and in games for all of those years. He says he is amazed at any player that can have a healthy career that lasts over 10 years. He says they are truly elite athletes and have some great genetics to take that abuse for so long. Many of his old teammates struggle to walk or get out of bed each day. Most have back problems or neck problems.
My father in law is a big guy by normal standards. He is around 280 lb and 6'-1". He has had some back, nerve and hip problems that makes it very difficult for him to get around. He stood up at the table and the folding chair caught his belt and he went down. Courtney rushed right over and grabbed him behind the shoulders and lifted him like I lift my 11 year old son. Bob said his feet even came off the ground at first. That is some impressive strength. Courtney was huge. I had no idea he was that big. My wife said I looked like a child standing next to him. I wont soon forget that experience. I now have met too former NFL players and both are regretting what it has cost them. The other was an offensive lineman who played for Tampa Bay and he is so bow legged from knee injuries that he can hardly walk.
We were at the memorial service for Aunt Pam and the dinner that follows and my wife pointed out that the enormous guy sitting next to her cousin was Courtney something or other from Penn State. I looked and immediately figured it was Courtney Brown, the first overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft and star defensive end for Penn State. I had no idea they were close enough with her cousin to get up at 2:00 AM and come to her mothers funeral but there they were.
I introduced myself and we talked a good bit. It was very interesting to hear his take on the NFL and what it does to players. He played for 8 years and has had many surgical procedures that have extended into his retirement. I wont disclose specifics but will say aside from the usual knee and shoulder stuff he has some pretty severe injuries resulting from the NFL. Fortunately he has good doctors that have been able to help him but it is an ongoing process to this point. The injury was more of an over time type of thing, instead of a sudden, carted off the field type.
He also told me that the speed of the game at the NFL level was so intense that it took him about 3 years for it to slow down for him. By then his body was starting to break down. He now does missionary work abroad and is a great guy. His son does not play football. I wonder why? I mentioned how bad the impact of those crushing hits you see players absorb must be for the body. He told me there was a drill at Penn State where players would line up and run straight into two other players at full speed. It was to develop the ability to hit with maximum impact. He also said it is very difficult to take on two Olinemen at a time and do it at practice and in games for all of those years. He says he is amazed at any player that can have a healthy career that lasts over 10 years. He says they are truly elite athletes and have some great genetics to take that abuse for so long. Many of his old teammates struggle to walk or get out of bed each day. Most have back problems or neck problems.
My father in law is a big guy by normal standards. He is around 280 lb and 6'-1". He has had some back, nerve and hip problems that makes it very difficult for him to get around. He stood up at the table and the folding chair caught his belt and he went down. Courtney rushed right over and grabbed him behind the shoulders and lifted him like I lift my 11 year old son. Bob said his feet even came off the ground at first. That is some impressive strength. Courtney was huge. I had no idea he was that big. My wife said I looked like a child standing next to him. I wont soon forget that experience. I now have met too former NFL players and both are regretting what it has cost them. The other was an offensive lineman who played for Tampa Bay and he is so bow legged from knee injuries that he can hardly walk.
