TruBlueCowboy said:
When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant where we once decided to get everyone together (we were all in our early to late 20's) and play a game of tackle football (without pads!) against the other big restaurant in the area. Well, we got enough people to play, but after the game was over, I think we had lost two people to concussions, one guy broke his ribs being tackled while making a catch, and I think someone else was taken out with a broken bone.
Heck, that ain't NUTHIN'... I got myself into a pickup, tackle game with some friends of my cousin when I was visiting the family in suburban DC, over at the local high school field...
On this one play, I fielded a punt near the right sideline, and started up the sideline just as fast as my stubby little legs would carry me... just about the time I was clear, and thought I had a chance to take it all the way (which surprised the bejesus out of me), I got SERIOUSLY clotheslined, by some guy I didn't know... being a tough guy, of course I bounced right back up, and sometime later in the game I managed to get a retaliatory cheap shot in on him a split second after he caught a pass in the end zone...
Well, I woke up the next morning and I couldn't turn my head more than an inch or two in either direction... I thought I was just suffering from a classic case of whiplash, and in a day or two I began to get a little range of motion back... in 2 or 3 weeks, I'd forgotten all about it...
I was 21 back then... now, we fast forward 26 years, and a somewhat grayer Bear suddenly got this WICKED headache, near the back of his skull... just a pounding type headache, and aspirin wouldn't touch it... after about 3 days, with no relief at all, I figured this wasn't normal, and took myself to the emergency room...
They gave me a full head and neck series of X-rays, and it turned out that one of my big neck cords had gone into spasm, and just wouldn't release... they injected me with some sort of muscle relaxant, and gave me a scrip for some more... and in a day or two, I was feeling better...
But what I remember most from that incident is the lady ER doctor walking into my cubicle, X-rays in hand, saying "Mr. Cottrill, when did you break your neck??"
Being the articulate individual I am, of course my response was an intellectual "huh??"
"Oh yes, the X-rays show a nicely healed fracture right here", and she showed it to me... it took me some weeks to figure out that I must have gotten that fracture in that pickup game, it's the ONLY time I've ever hurt my neck...
I just can't figure out if it takes a real man, or a real fool, to walk around with a broken neck without seeking medical attention, LOL...