Posted on 08/05/2017 2:16:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Super Bowl-winning QB from San Jose faces constant pain and an uncertain future
He rises from a chair next to his Heisman Trophy in a room stuffed with dozens of silver and gold keepsakes that recognize a remarkable sports legacy. At 6-foot-3, Jim Plunkett still commands a room.
But underneath the tanned exterior anxiety grows over an uncertain future.
“My life sucks,” said Plunkett, 69. “It’s no fun being in this body right now. Everything hurts.”
The years of daily pain pulsating from the neck, back, knees, shoulders, hips and head have taken a toll on a quarterback who played 15 NFL seasons and led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories. His body is a patchwork of medical magic: Artificial knees, an artificial shoulder and a surgically repaired back. After 18 operations, Plunkett’s activities have been reduced to golf and light workouts at home on a Crosstrainer.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
My late mother died in her late 50’s. She would have loved to have had Jim Plunkett’s problems.
You know, I have had my share of things, but...for me, it could always have been worse.
I remember at the age of six or seven, I climbed up a tree, and was dangling upside down by my knees (no hands) about 10 feet above the grassy ground.
The branch snapped, and I plummeted to the ground and landed nearly directly on my head (with just a little of the impact to the shoulder)
I was shook up and got my bell rung, but I walked away from it.
But what if I didn’t? What if, at the age of seven, I had broken my neck? Every time I get an ache, pain or injury, I think of the life I might have never had, and I realize, I might have something bad, but...it can almost always be worse.
And I missed the worse on that one thing.
do you think millions cheered for me?...or paid me a million?...
life is just hard Jim, just hard...
no sympathy...
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Jim didn’t say he was contemplating suicide...
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How many times has a 350 pound ‘patient’ charged at you and pounded your bod into the turf? :o)
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I know. I didn’t say he was.
Some people have it, some people don't.
People should remember that the words in the article are being filtered through a typical filthy, disgusting journalist. Watch the video. Plunkett doesn’t seem like he’s whining, but being matter of fact. He also looks like he’s in good shape.
California Whine!
Sorry...I missed the Davis connection? ???
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The owners of the tRaiders!
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Haha...like I would know...lol
He still made plenty. I guess I’m lucky, just a thumping shoulder from way too much baseball. I made it through college free, but got paid nothing for my injuries.
Feel tremendous sympathy for Jim after watching that video. He was one of the quiet ones who never complained. He took a stunning 380 sacks in his 15 year pro career, and never bitched or moaned about a single one, as Brady does. No one did back then. Plunkett has been through so many surgeries and ailments and seems so calm and subdued about it all. that generation was truly a different breed.
Please watch the linked video. That is not his attitude at ALL.
He is the only eligible quarterback to start (and win) two Super Bowls without being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
I agree. GREAT guy/ Met him 20 years ago at a charity golf game, in fact. You'd never know he was a 2x Super Bowl MVP. Completely kind and unassuming. Which is why I am annoyed so many on this thread are bashing him.
I actually knew Archie as a boy and caught passes from him
I was 11 maybe and he was 19 then
His high school coach from Drew MS in the delta was a close buddy of my dads
He was very humble and personable
A ginger male if ever there was one
He could drill that ball i can tell ya
This was around the time his dad killed himself
I remember idolizing him yet feeling so much empathy
Archie’s mother lived in Drew for more than 40 years after her husband’s death—not sure if she ever remarried. The Mannings used to gather at her home for family reunions and other events for many years. The town’s demography changed; most of the whites moved away, but Mrs. Manning stayed, and she was revered and respected in Drew.
I’ve never met Archie, but met Eli a couple of times at media events during his playing days at Ole Miss. As they say in the south, when you meet one of Archie’s sons, you can tell they were “raised right.” Interestingly, Eli spent more time with his mother at a young age; Archie was at the end of his playing career; Cooper and Peyton were older and could go to the stadium with their dad, while Olivia had to take care of their youngest.
Some have suggested that Eli is “softer” and less assertive because of the time with his mom. But you don’t win two Super Bowls—for a New York team, no less—and become the current leader for consecutive starts by a QB by being soft. Archie’s boys are gentlemen, like their father, but they’re also tough, and never complain.
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