“Everybody was OVER WITH ME!”: Former Packers cornerback Sam Shields BLAMES NFL for destroying his career
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Sam Shields
Injuries are a part of the NFL and can be career-ending at times as well. Although the NFL is taking better measures to curb the number of threats posed by the physical nature of the game, it cannot be completely avoided.
The NFL currently has hired ATC spotters who are independent certified athletic trainers and will “serve as another set of eyes, watching for possible injuries at every NFL game.” This came under the limelight after Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins suffered a head injury and was still allowed to re-enter the match.
Former Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields has talked about the effect of injuries and concussions in not only his career but also his personal life. Shields says that he ‘regrets’ playing in the NFL as it sidelined him for almost 14 months between 2016 and 2017 and forced him into early retirement.
Sam Shields’ personal life got affected as a result of his injuries on the football field:
In an interview with Dan Le Batard in the ‘South Beach Sessions’ podcast, the 34-year-old said that once your football career gets over, everyone forgets about you. Sam Shields lamented the fact that once his football career was finished, most people in his life cut ties with him.
“When you’re done with football, everybody forgets about you. Family, friends. I have one friend. In football, I had 10. Right now, I’ve got one where I know that that’s my friend. That I could really say: ‘You’re my friend.’ I don’t even talk to most of my family members. Once football was over, everybody was over with me.”
Earlier in an article for the Players Tribune back in 2018, Sam Shields talked about the struggles he had to face with his head injury. Muscles cramping up, sleepless nights, and body aching were some of the experiences he had to endure during that tumultuous period.
“It was three o’clock in the morning on some night in January 2017,” Sam Shields said. “I forget which one. I’d had a lot of bad nights around that time, but this one was the worst. I couldn’t sleep. It felt like my brain was cramping, or like it was trying to break out of my skull or something. I was rolling around in my bed, whipping my body back and forth, trying to escape the pounding inside my head. Next thing I know, I’m curled up in the fetal position, shaking and crying.”
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