D’Brickashaw Ferguson Echoes the Fears of Many after Watching “Concussion”

Many current and former players have seen, and reacted to, the movie “Concussion”. The Jets’ D’Brickashaw Ferguson is no different. He is hurt, and scared for his future.

D’Brickashaw Ferguson has been a stalwart at left tackle for the New York Jets through the years. Since being selected in the first round of the 2006 draft, he has not missed a snap, protecting the blind side of everyone from Chad Pennington to Ryan Fitzpatrick.

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He also has been involved in a great many collisions, as all offensive linemen have. With all of the recent cases of CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), and the increase in the NFL’s concussion protocol, all eyes have been on the release of the movie, “Concussion“. Current and former players have seen it, and reacted to it.

D’Brickashaw Ferguson is no different. He has seen it, he is upset, and he is scared for his future. He reacted to the movie by writing an article for Sports Illustrated, seen here.  But he makes some very interesting points, which seemingly reflect the fears of many of the players.

He talks about learning that it is not only concussions that cause CTE, but it’s the smaller head collisions that over time, cause the brain to decay into CTE. Ferguson’s reaction is very telling:

"After learning all of this, I feel a bit betrayed by the people or committees put in place by the league who did not have my best interests at heart."

It doesn’t help that Dr. Elliot Pellman, the doctor that worked for the NFL that helped bury the head injury issue, was a Jets’ team doctor when D’Brickashaw entered the league. Even with that fact, the reaction is quite revealing.

Here are examples of how Dictionary.com defines “betray”:

"*to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to*to deceive, misguide, or corrupt"

Ferguson feels deceived by, misguided by, and disappointed by, the sport that he has devoted the better part of his life to. Imagine that for a moment. You spend over ten years of your life to learning a particular craft, whatever that may be. You then learn that the craft you have mastered has put you in harm’s way, potentially deadly harm’s way. Not only that, you find out that not only you weren’t told, the powers that be took steps to hide the information from you.

It’s really no surprise that Ferguson feels betrayed. It begs the question, how many other players feel this way? Did some of the players that retired, such as Chris Borland, feel the same? This feeling could be quite widespread.

What about if he could do it all again? Would “Brick” still play football with the knowledge he has now, and what about his child? Take a look at what he had to say:

"And yet, would I do it all again? I would, considering what I have accomplished on and off the field because of my relationship with football. My involvement in the game from eighth grade to the NFL has been a journey that I couldn’t imagine not having as part of my life story. But learning about CTE and brain injuries have made me wonder if I would so easily allow my child to follow my footsteps. If I had a son, would I let him play? I struggle to answer this question. I sincerely believe that the game has and will continue to improve on all levels and put its players in the best possible position, but I do have doubts in whether that is something that I would want to let my child pursue."

Despite the fact that he feels betrayed by people he trusted, and the fact that he could die when it is all over, D’Brickashaw Ferguson would do it all again. It’s a very interesting debate that is likely going on in the heads of all NFL football players. Is the “brotherhood”, and the competition worth it? The players care about the game so much, it is quite possible that many of them feel the way he does.

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But would he let his son play? Not necessarily. There has been much talk about this issue as the information about CTE has become more and more available, and there will continue to be as time goes by. Who can blame any one for not wanting to put their child through that type of potential trauma.

NFL players are scared, and they are hurt. Can we really blame them?