There are a number of powerful images I’ll take with me from covering the Ravens 2007 season. You might be most interested in the things I was privy to “behind the scenes.” I’ll keep the identities anonymous, but some of the images don’t need names for you to get a glimpse into what life can be like in the course of a long, physically demanding NFL season.

While in the locker room in Owings Mills during a week late in the year, a player called me over and told me to take a look at his knee. He hiked up a pant leg on his sweat pants to reveal a knee swollen to what appeared to be three times its normal size. He was going to get the knee drained by doctors, something he has to do a couple of times each week. He would endure the swelling and the draining from early on in the season- and he never missed a game. On the road at the team hotel on a Saturday night before a game, I saw him limping through the lobby, dragging his leg like a dead weight. He had just gotten it drained by the team trainer. The player had a standout game the next day.

Working for MASN, I flew on the team charters and rode the busses with the team during road trips. After one long West Coast trip that was coming to an end in the early morning hours, I sat near a veteran player on the bus from BWI to the team headquarters in Owings Mills. The player had suffered a knee injury in the game, and it seemed his pain medication was wearing off. He gritted his teeth as he rocked in pain in his seat, breathing rhythmically with increasing volume. He didn’t say a word. He looked like he was about to explode in pain, like he wanted to jump up and scream and leap off the bus. He put his head down, took a deep breath and calmed himself. The bus was getting close to the final destination. This was a picture of a player in pain, gutting it out- and he never uttered a word of complaint.

In the final minutes of a game, I will leave the press box to head down to the field, or to get in position to head into the locker room at field level for interviews. While walking through the bowels of a stadium on the road with seconds remaining on the game clock, I encountered Ravens trainers slowly walking a player toward an x-ray room near the locker room. The player was shirtless on a cold day and steam from his body heat was rising from his skin and scalp. There were numerous bruises and red marks on his shoulders and chest, and the player appeared dazed- he had suffered a concussion. His eyes were half-shut and he took small, stifling steps as one trainer held him by the arm. The player had argued with the training staff to let him continuing playing after he’d gotten hurt.

Football players are well paid and from what you see from the stands or on TV, they lead a “glamorous” life of fame and glory. They are a unique breed, and you never hear any of them say they’d trade the experience for anything else- pain and suffering included. From what I saw this year, the physical pain that all players encounter (some more than others) must feel many times worse during a losing season.

Posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 10:41 pm.
Categories: Opinion.
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