ShulaSteakhouse Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 And not a bit of support from the NFL or the Bengals, other than a phone call or two a few years ago. I guess this is what Astroturf does to your knees after 14 years of playing on it, ecspecially after injuring it in 1980 originally.StoryHard to believe after growing up watching him for so long. I went to HS in the mid-80's and Reggie was just a guy who was always on the team for as long as I could remember. It's a shame the Bengals' or the NFL can't offer guys like this some financial support at least. They didn't make anywhere near what guys do today, and the loss of his leg is a direct result of his NFL experience. Greedy bastards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spor_tees Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Ok not to sound like a Cold hearted person but we already had this discussion before. Personally I loved Reggie as a player and in fact as a kid wore his number 57 in Pee Wee football because of him. Fact is Reggie has made more than enough money in his lifetime to get the right health care to take care of his knee. The loss of his leg shouldn't be anymore saddening than if a steel mill worker, truck driver, or factory worker lost theirs. Any time an NFL player gets an injury its just a fact of life and part of the risk that a person takes by playing in the NFL. It's a high risk/high reward profession. Robert Smith and Barry Sanders left the game early in order to elude going through the type of thing Reggie Williams is going through now. Here is Reggie's Wikipedia article detailing his professional career.Reggie Williams WikipediaReginald Williams (born September 19, 1954 in Flint, Michigan) is a former professional American football player.Williams graduated from Dartmouth College, where he starred as a linebacker. In 1976, he was drafted in the third round by the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom he played fourteen seasons, recording 16 interceptions and 23 fumble recoveries. During that time, he played in two Super Bowls. He is also a former Cincinnati City Council member. He was elected on the Charter Party ticket. In 1987 he was named co- Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year for his charitable efforts.During his career Williams amassed 62.5 sacks, which is the second most in Bengals history. [1][edit] Post NFL lifeIn 2007 Reggie Williams was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. 1.Williams was the Vice President for sports attractions at Walt Disney World in Orlando until November 2007. He worked primarily as the chief executive for Disney's Wide World of Sports facility. He stepped down to focus on rehabilitating his legs from his playing career in the NFL. [2]Although playing for fourteen seasons, Williams played most of his career on a bad right knee. He has needed 14 knee surgeries since his career ended, 7 of those coming after April of 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazkal Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 eg shouldn't be anymore saddening than if a steel mill worker, truck driver, or factory worker lost theirs.How many of those employees lose their limbs after being employed,If they lose them well they are then the employer tends to take care of it if not they will be sued =P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShulaSteakhouse Posted October 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 If you lose a limb or can't walk, I think your employer owes you. Sure these days guys make multiple millions and it's different, but the NFL veterans from the 60's-80's are often struggling to get by, played with poorer equipment and on astroturf, and didn't make anywhere near the $ guys do now. Hell a lot of these guys negotiated their own contracts and took whatever Mike/Paul Brown gave them.Considering the BILLIONS owners and the NFL make, you just think they could take better care of their older players from that time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spor_tees Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 If you lose a limb or can't walk, I think your employer owes you. Sure these days guys make multiple millions and it's different, but the NFL veterans from the 60's-80's are often struggling to get by, played with poorer equipment and on astroturf, and didn't make anywhere near the $ guys do now. Hell a lot of these guys negotiated their own contracts and took whatever Mike/Paul Brown gave them.Considering the BILLIONS owners and the NFL make, you just think they could take better care of their older players from that time period.You missed the point. First off Reggie Williams had knee problems before he even got to the NFL. Secondly, even after Williams left the NFL, he made outstanding money as an executive with Disney, a job he more than likely would have never gotten without being a former NFL player. To say that someone owes him at this point because of him playing in the NFL is beyond the lines. If this article was about someone like Mike Webster, yeah you could have a point, whereas Reggie Williams, not as much. In fact I thought it was quite funny how in the original article it was pointed out that someone was driving Williams to his next doctor's consult in Reggie's Lexus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Just a layman's opinion, but that knee looks like it needs about nine more surgeries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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