Bosworth Talks Injuries; Lays into Shanahan over RGIII Handling

Brian Bozworth did an interview with Muscle and Fitness talking heath, steroids, the NCAA, and if he related his injury to RGIII's. Here's the RGIII part, which I find rather insightful despite this topic having been beaten to death:

Robert Griffin III had a scary moment in the playoffs this year. He was playing on a clearly injured knee and made it worse. We still don't know if he'll ever be the same. When you saw that, were you relating it to your own situation?

Boz: I was tweaking out. It's a prime example of exactly what I'm talking about. They bring this young kid in-and the Redskins haven't been relevant for years-the talent this kid has provided a big boost not just as a quarterback, but to rally the other players around so they start believing they belong in that position. And they know he's hurt, but they're willing to risk his entire career for a playoff game. They've got the doctor on the sideline, Dr. Andrews... and he's there telling that kid, "Dude, you've got a torn tendon in your knee and I see the style that you play, the only way you're effective and you can't defend yourself, this is a recipe for disaster." For [Coach Mike] Shanahan to sit there and watch that... like they didn't see it coming. They knew it was happening and they just continued letting him destroy [his knee] and potentially ruin his career... We still don't know the repercussions. He could come back out next year and be half as slow, not the same player, and then what are we going to say, "He's a bust."?

It's going to happen over and over. You can't leave it to the player, because the player is always going to say, "You know what? I want to play." Because all we want to do is play. I felt like I was Superman. I never felt like there was an injury I couldn't overcome. The guys on the other side-they hate you as much as you hate them. And if you can't defend yourself the same way as they can. They're coming at you with a sword and a shield, and all you have is a sword. Your brain is telling you, "If I hit with that shoulder-or if I cut with that knee-I'm not going to be as effective. So as my year went on, that second year, I started adjusting my play. So instead of hitting everyone with my left shoulder, the one that was injured, I started hitting everyone with my right shoulder even though it would put me in a bad position, so then I ended up screwing up my right shoulder. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. So you have to take the player's opinion out of the equation. The team has to come in and say, "What's the best position for us and the player? We want him to be on the team long-term, so he can't play." And it also comes back to the league saying you can only have 53 men on the roster.,, There's no way to win knowing that the owners are controlling the game and the players have to play by the owners' rules.

I realize this interview would have been more relevant four months ago and not today, but being a player, Boz actually does add insight in regards to the daily toll of pain players deal with. Of course there's the Nats handling of Strasburg on the other side of this. Anyway, only one more month to the start of training camp. We really need Jeff George's opinion on the matter and then I can shut the book.