One of pro footballs legendary ironmen, Jim played in 210 consecutive regular-season games from his rookie-season opener to the final game of his last season. And that is something that I'm dealing with. Two years ago, Detroit Lions guard Mike Utley took a hit and suffered severe spinal damage, leaving him nearly a quadriplegic. Double-zero recalls stories about all Jim Otto was elected into the Hall of Fame as a Player in 1980. Otto eventually had to have his right leg amputated on August 1, 2007. I saw Meredith's nose broken so bad that it spread all over his face. When Giants defensive tackle Jim Pietrzak wished him good luck in the playoffs, he punched him. Ray Lewis has won a Super Bowl MVP, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and has earned nine Pro Bowl invitations. 22. For the next fifteen years, Otto became a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. PBS Privacy Policy Oh no. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. So he stayed there for the rest of the series, and then we came off, and I'm watching him because I'm the only guy who saw that he had a compound fracture. WebAs a result of injuries sustained during his playing career, he has endured more than 70 surgeries, including nearly 30 knee operations. Butkus has bitten officials, bitten opponents in the groin, scratched, punched, everything. I love everybody, and I love to know them; I love to remember their names, but sometimes if I can't remember a name, I'm not going to fret over it and get upset. Grasping lifes highs and lows for Jim Otto his excellence on the football field and the lifelong physical toll achieving that excellence extracted requires little more than reading the first few pages of his aptly titled autobiography, The Pain of Glory.. -- but we never associated that and concussions or hits with long-term brain trauma. And when he drops his head, he drops his head right to the spot where the tackler is coming in with his head and shoulders. So there's different degrees of concussions; I want you to know that. He's beating people with it. And --. Going across the middle against Dick Butkus was considered attempted suicide. He suffered from chronic back pain due to The AFL permitted the unusual number because it was a pun on Otto's name (aught-oh). Almost no one leaves this game unscarred either physically or mentally.. 38. He played five more games before the loose bone mass was removed. Krueger now cant kneel and has problems walking on uneven surfaces. Jim Otto Csonka is also the only player in the history of the NFL to be penalized while carrying the balla forearm shot/right cross that knocked a safety unconscious. PBS Terms of Use When players retire, they cite feelings of abandonment, loneliness, paranoia, helplessness, despair and loss of self-esteem. What's going on? Bill Romanowski, Linebacker, San Francisco 49ers & Philadelphia Eagles & Denver Broncos & Oakland Raiders (1988-2003). It isn't long [before] there won't be a kickoff because oh, my goodness, that guy gets the ball in the end zone and he comes running out of there so fast, he could hurt somebody, you know? Longtime Raiders team doctor Robert Rosenfield, who died last January of cancer, diagnosed it as strained ligaments. In most cases I would like to be able to be out there doing something for somebody else, helping somebody else, and I can't. Jim Otto, Center, Oakland Raiders (1960-1974), Otto played fifteen seasons and never missed a game, despite 10 broken noses and over 40 back, knee, and shoulder operations, including 28 to his knees alone. He has played through numerous injuries such as a separated right clavicle, an infected right shoulder, a dislocated ring finger on his right hand, torn cartilage in his right knee, a strained calf, a hip pointer, a ruptured disk, back spasms, strained rib cartilage, severely bruised ribs, a left knee sprain, an MCL sprain, a left ankle sprain, severe turf toe, a cracked bone spur in his left ankle, a bone spur in his toe, and a severely bruised sternum. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Chuck Bednarik, Center & Linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles (1949-1962), The greatest collision of all time was Bednarik hitting Gifford. Well, when that tackler -- in so many cases, if you watch the television, you watch the film, you see that tackler coming in with his head and his shoulders, which he's been taught to use to tackle his whole life. He played with pain and didn't come out. Deacon perfected the head slap, a move that would be eventually banned by the NFL because it was too effective., 29. Jim Otto: The Pain of Glory by Jim Otto | Goodreads WebLatest on C Jim Otto including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on NFL.com He was issued jersey number 50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar 00 the next season. And boy, the rest of the day was hell for me. The ironic part? He tells a very straightforward biography of himself, deals out very little dirt but tells it as he sees it. All that action in the trenches nearly every offensive and special teams snap for a decade and a half came with a high price, however. According to the latest NFLPA survey, conducted in 1990, more than one-third of 645 players whose careers began as early as 1940 and ended no later than 1986 retired because of disabling injuries. He needed 74 surgeries for his football injuries, including the amputation of one of his legs. My nose was broken pretty, pretty good. Jim Otto is 6-2 (188 cm) tall. He endured torn-up knees, broken hands, broken ribs, and an acutely-painful hamstring tear but never missed a game. Journalistic Guidelines Most of these players are young, and they feel invincible, said Stuart Fishelman, a Baltimore doctor who provides sports psychology services. As a show of respect, he always calls Raiders' owner Al Davis "Mr. Otto is also the subject of works by artist Matthew Barney.[3]. We havent seen the worst yet.. He has played through numerous injuries, including a broken bone in his back. He became homeless, those stories. No. The highs an athlete gets from the highly selective field makes it hard for them to settle into another pursuit. I've had scans of my brain, and it's been explained to me what is really wrong with my brain. That's number one. But I'm not out there crying about it. Dobler, in an ESPN poll, was named the dirtiest professional athlete of all time. WebJim Otto is generally recognized as one of the greatest and most durable centers the game of football has ever seen. Associated With It has to really be studied. In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. But no, amnesia, it's a serious thing. We'd go hunting together; we did a lot of different things together, Dave and I. How tall is Jim Otto? He was not a great linebacker. I'm going to be just like you, Pops." He soon was established as the Raiders center. Where are you?," you know, and I didn't know where the hell I was. Some players have catheterized themselves and replaced their own urine with clean samples before testing.. We were at the Polo Grounds when I first ran up against him. OK, you started by saying that suicide is not something that people talk about in the NFL, or have [not] until fairly recently anyhow. But has suicide and those kind of mental traumas, extreme points like a suicide, has that always been a feature that you've known about that's been kind of the chatter of the backroom [among] players? Nobody is helping me. There were two times. In 1972, he thought he broke his back on a hit by a Minnesota Vikings linebacker, so he crawled off the field. But when you say you don't want to make that connection, it's because you just don't want to believe that there is that connection? Here's the last question. He liked to think that his best hits border on felonious assault., 14. Nicknamed Rambo for his tough play and physical resemblance to Sylvester Stallone, Bavaro broke seven tackles on one catch across the middle against the 49ers in a 1986 game. 16. Is that what you're saying? You want to spell football: T-U-F-F. When Lotts finger didnt heal properly, he told the doctors to cut it off, and they amputated his pinkie at the third knuckle. His first words: Did we score? Believe it or not, Plasman suffered from blindness and post-concussion syndrome until his death at age 67 in 1981. I got upset. And they'll come up with some answers. Minutes later, he set up the winning touchdown with a fake handoff. He proudly stated that he played football because it was the only way he could hit someone and get away with it. Dick Plasman, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears & Chicago Cardinals (1937-1947). It was the hardest tackle I ever made, but I made it, and I said to myself, Well, I guess that will show you, Nagurski! Then as I was getting up, I heard the referee shout, Second down and 2!, George Halas: Nagurski blasted through two would-be tacklers as though they were a pair of old saloon doors and kept on going right into the endzone. Otto punished his body greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career alone) and multiple joint replacements. 32. WebHow did Jim Otto loose his leg? He finally returned after a three-year absence. Walt Garrison, Running Back, Dallas Cowboys (1966-1974). I mean, if you played marbles against Mike Webster, he still would beat you. I know that I went to war, and I came out of the battle with what I got, and that's the way it is. Jim Strub wrote from a mountainside in Colorado. His right leg was eventually amputated in There wasn't anybody. These are young people who have achieved a lot of emotional and economic success at an early age, but they never think about their careers ending. Jim Otto 1. The NFL Hall of Famer recounts his legendary career with the Oakland Raiders, his many injuries, and the terrible cost of playing through the pain.From 1960 to 1974, Jim Otto played center for the Oakland Raiders, leading the team to historic AFL and NFL victories. Website design & development by americaneagle.com copyright 2021 Pro Football hall of fame all rights reserved, Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls, Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic. He considered the 20-some broken noses as more nuisance than hindrance, along with a hip pointer, broken fingers, broken ribs, a broken jaw, neck stingers, numerous concussions, kicked-in teeth and a bout of double pneumonia. 11. We met at the line of scrimmage, and you could hear the thud all over the Polo Grounds. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis made the announcement Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging news conference touching on the state of the team, the recent death of Bill Walsh and pensions for former NFL players. His head still down, Nagurski ran full speed into the brick outfield wall there at Wrigley Field. Players rarely give much thought to life after football. Too many times we hear about the negatives because were former athletes, but the media ignores the players who make positive contributions, said Curtis, a D.C. commercial real estate broker. His right leg was eventually amputated in 2007. You're the tackler, and you get fined. In the 1970 regular season (1st year of the NFL-AFL merger), Oakland scored 300 points (21.4 points/game), 9th of 26 teams in the NFL, beating the Miami Dolphins in the 1970-71 NFL playoffs before losing to the Colts. Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne has called Wilson pound for pound the toughest player in the NFL., 31. Do you associate Dalby and Webster's post-career declines and troubles with the hard-hitting nature of the game? He has arthritis in his shoulders and neck. It has come upon people and hurt people for periods of time, you know? And then a year ago there were four suicides among not necessarily the best noted players but some players, and the Players Association claimed that it's been because of concussions and stuff like that. During the 1980s, Otto was involved in numerous business ventures. By submitting comments here, you are consenting to these rules:Readers' comments that include profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, harassment, or are defamatory, sexist, racist, violate a third party's right to privacy, or are otherwise inappropriate, will be removed. Johnny Unitas, Quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers & Baltimore Colts & San Diego Chargers (1956-1974). His famed right shoulder was responsible for dozens of broken noses and jaws. In Otto's final year, 1974, Oakland scored 355 points (25.4 points/game), leading the NFL, and then avenging their loss to the Dolphins during 1974-75 NFL playoffs before losing to the Steelers again. Brett Favre, Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons & Green Bay Packers & New York Jets (1991-present). Former Colts linebacker Mike Curtis said those cases are few and too highly publicized. What were your first thoughts when you started hearing those stories after his retirement? That was the most important thing to me. It would become so embarrassing that I stopped going out in public, said Otto, who had his knees drained and injected with painkillers four times a week during his last three playing years. Utleys injury received a lot of media attention because it happened during a game. He won eight rushing titles before abruptly retiring at the age of 30. 30. Jim Otto 21. In 1997, Otto's daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot. Marsh played with the Raiders seven years, during which he was hospitalized 18 times and had 13 surgeries. Jim Otto: The Pain of Glory is the story about a man who fought through numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and a myriad of other maladies. And then you have a guy like Junior Seau come along this last year. This is FRONTLINE's old website. And that's what I'm doing. And I think if you were to evaluate Mike Webster, it was a matter of pride. Heart of a Champion: The 40 Toughest Players in NFL History Former Raiders internist Dr. The guy coming down the field to cover the kickoff, the guy with the ball with the kickoff, hey, this is football. Oftentimes you'll see the contact where a tackler will tackle a runner or the quarterback, and right away they flag him, and it's going to cost them $20,000, $50,000, whatever it is for that hit. When other coaches started seeing what a guy that size could do, they all wanted monster players with speed. Dick Butkus, Linebacker, Chicago Bears (1965-1973), Dick Butkus was the angriest, most ferocious, menacing, and yes, toughest player to ever play the game of football. I was proud that the NFL started the random drug testing, and Im sure use has decreased, said Huizenga, the former Raiders doctor, but its still there. FOOTBALL'S PAIN A REMINDER TO JIM OTTO - The New York Times 8. Most current players feel they have more leverage since Butkus filed a $1.6 million suit against the Bears in 1974 and came away with a $600,000 settlement. I don't like concussions. The symptoms are nightmares and cold sweats. The Most Risky Job Ever. Reporting on ISIS in Afghanistan. Looked like a raccoon. Bob Lilly, 37. WebIn addition to his football injuries, Otto also had two strokes, three heart attacks, and diabetes which caused blindness in one eye. Among Doblers principal offenses were biting, gouging, punching, kicking, and grabbing the face mask. NFL tough guy was fined for: kicking fullback Larry Centers in the head (1995); breaking Kerry Collins' jaw on a preseason helmet-to-helmet hit (1997); throwing a football at linebacker Bryan Cox and hitting him in the groin (1999); punching tight end Tony Gonzalez (1999); and breaking the eye socket of teammate Marcus Williams in a scrimmage, forcing him to retire (2003). If I had a graph I could show you it. Favre has earned three MVP awards and led the Packers to a championship in 1996. The psychological high and its addiction is parallel to people who become addicted to cocaine or a smoker who has a dependency on cigarettes. The Raiders missed the playoffs for the first time in 5 years in 1971, despite scoring 344 points (24.6 points/game), 2nd of 26 teams in the NFL. What is it about the idea for you -- I mean, do you feel like this stuff about brain research and NFL players is kind of hogwash, or do you think there's something to it? We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films, once stated, There are so many definitions of toughness. He paralyzed wide receiver Darryl Stingley in a preseason game in 1978 on a clean hit. I know that all of us guys I know in some way, shape or form have down times, when there's a certain amount of depression in our minds and our thoughts, in our heart, and it's not a very comfortable situation. Ernie Stautner comes in the huddle, and his thumb is broken back against his wrist. Lawrence Taylor, Linebacker, New York Giants (1981-1993), LT was easily the most disruptive defensive force in NFL history. Now, I don't think that's fair. And she says, "I didn't marry you for that leg anyway." When asked why he played through the pain, instead of watching from the sidelines, Smith calmly responded, This is why they pay me., 19. They've asked for my brain. That's the way Mike Webster would say it, too. Jim Otto The former Titans star quarterback has injured nearly every part of his body at one time or another. Dobler swore that he would never intentionally blind someone, only blur their vision. WebJim Otto was an All-Star in the first 13 of his 15 seasons every year in the AFL from 1960 through 1969 and three of his five seasons in the NFL. What is the result exactly? Yeah, I think it was in -- I'm not exactly sure what year; it was '72 or something. For the next 15 years, he was a fixture at center for the Oakland Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. There's a battle, and that battle is going on. The impact and velocity of some collisions, normal Americans cant appreciate because they are not on the field, said John Lopez, head of Towson Sports Medicine and former trainer with the Baltimore Colts. I was happy for him. Otto's body was punished greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 74 operations, including 28 on his knee (nine of them during his playing career) and multiple joint replacements. Few occupations can provide the riches and fame, yet simultaneously the danger, of pro football. When you talk about your knees, legs, those kind of things, those kinds of injuries, clearly related to football, I mean, you know when these injuries started probably and all that. And so yes, he broke my helmet; he broke my face mask in here, which broke my nose and set it over here. Tommy McDonald, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles & Dallas Cowboys & Los Angeles Rams & Atlanta Falcons & Cleveland Browns (1957-1968). Jim Otto Gary Fencik: I had the displeasure of tackling, by accident, Walter only once in my 12-year career. Now, the amnesia one, that was before the NFL, is that right? His dedication and durability symbolized the teams Commitment to Excellence motto. Coaches had a way of making you feel less manly if you didnt play. Its an orthopedics surgeons dream. He has fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections to his arthritic joints, and almost died on the handicapped table once. And he told me that so many times: "Pops, I'm going to be just like you. But you're saying there are issues? Since then, only three players have been suspended for the minimum four weeks for a first offense. It's just a physical battle in there, that you have to do. He chewed through the bars of his face mask and reportedly ate the window panes of the team bus. It all swelled up, and I couldn't see, but I kept playing. He has a compound fracture of the thumb. He played three games with a fractured tibia. When you looked at your wife and you didn't know who she was, like, who's this chick? Jim Otto - Autographed 1961 Topps Rookie Card How many games did Jim Otto play? To break a helmet, split it right here in front, to have it then break your nose and the face mask that you have there, so --. Nothing dirty about it. Raider, grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, a medium-sized town in the central part of the state where he excelled as a hockey goaltender and as a football center at Wausau High. And yet I'd be playing, you know? Hein played fifteen seasons with the Giants and never missed a play. And then tell me about a good solid head hit that you remember from the NFL as well. The Baltimore Ravens placed a bounty on Ward, to which the former Super Bowl MVP responded, Bring it on. He was voted the smartest offensive player in the NFL (non-quarterbacks) and is considered the best blocking receiver in the NFL.
Family Dollar Popcorn, Landforms Formed By Wind Erosion, Articles J