Jaclyn Fujita, wife of Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, wrote a letter to release pent up emotions due to a close friend receiving a diagnosis of ALS (commonly known as Lou Gherig’s disease). After repeated requests she published the letter on the Nation a few days ago. She expresses her poignant perspective on the harsh realities behind the glamor of playing in the NFL.
My husband could have lost his life to a staph infection. His NFL doctors and trainers were heating/icing/stemming his knee for a bursa-sac rupture and ignoring all the major signs of infection, while his body was screaming that something else must be wrong. He ended up in an emergency operation weeks after symptoms began.
When considering this perspective it becomes obvious why the players are holding fast on issues concerning player safety and health care. She expresses her understanding that these hazards of the game are understood and goes on to explain that future players should heed this warning. Things aren’t always as they seem through the eyes of a player who loves the game and the approval they receive from their loved ones.
What these men need to know is that as they step on the field and risk major injury – while generating billions of dollars for this industry – the billionaires who write the checks are not looking out for them. They need to know that they are going to be lied to. They need to know that when they suffer an injury they will be told they should buck up and play.
She closes with her wish that the players who sacrifice their bodies for this American pastime “will not be forgotten” and knowledge that “they did not sacrifice their health and well-being for nothing.“
