Then as former NFL players have asked, "Why weren't you complaining when Griffin was playing against Dallas?"
I didn't watch that game. If the condition of his knee was visibly worsened during the Dallas game, I would certainly still be "complaining". I didn't see it, so I have no idea.
I also think that entering a game with a suspect knee is more excusable than continuing a game when the condition is so obviously worsened. I'd guess that at least before Dallas he had time to get the right medical procedures and tests done to determine that he could indeed attempt to play. The decision wasn't made after dragging him into some small wooden shed and injecting him with heaven knows what.
Did his knee look like it worsened during the Dallas game? Honestly, I didn't see it.
Griffin isn't stupid. He knows the risks of playing football. He already has screws and rubber bands holding him together.
As a former NFL Player
has also said:
“Here’s a guy that was out there, trying to do his best for his teammates,” Gannon continued. “I think at some point, somebody’s got to step in. It’s like stopping a fight in the 15th round or something, when the guy’s been knocked around too much and he can’t defend himself. I mean, that was the situation to me when I looked at Robert Griffin III.”
So it can be equated to throwing in the towel for a boxer, or the TKO. Specifically put in place to prevent these "warriors" from getting killed due to their determination.
He also saw what Adrian Peterson accomplished this season.
And Peterson was coming off of his first ACL reconstruction. Griffin has already been there and done that. The rehab period and odds of success get increasingly worse with every reinjury.
I promise you, if Peterson were to hobble back to the huddle limping on his previously injured knee, I would stand by the argument that he should be pulled.
I didn't watch that game. You didn't have to watch the game to know that he was playing with a previous injury. Remember he left the Falcon's game early in the 2nd half and didn't play against the Browns.
I'd guess that at least before Dallas he had time to get the right medical procedures and tests done to determine that he could indeed attempt to play.
The NFL is a business, it is not intercollegiate athletics. The players know it. They are in many cases paid more for a single game than most people make a year. There is a reason they risk their bodies. You and I may not agree, but they aren't being forced to play football. Like the little girl in the State Farm commercial says to Aaron Rogers in regards to being an NFL quarterback, "That isn't a job".