Watching the replay of the hit on Joe Flacco last night is literally nauseating to me. Not just that it's the kind of hit the NFL has sworn they're trying to get out of the game (but hey, no ejection for it because FOOTBAW, I guess?). Just... the look on his face afterwards as he was leaving the field. I know that look all too well.
Those who know me outside of the forums are probably aware. For those not, I've suffered a series of concussions in my younger years through hockey, the after-effects of which still are a challenge for me on a daily basis to some extent. Whether it's something minor feeling lightheaded almost every time I stand up from my desk up to full-on vertigo spells that leave me unable to function for a couple of hours at a time (luckily those are rarer these days), the effects of injuries like this don't go away. Every time you take one, it's worse than the last one. It's awful- I don't even know how to properly explain the feeling. 'Foggy' doesn't really cover it, but almost like a delay, in a way- like your brain still is processing information, but there's a gap between what you think and actually reacting to that information. It's bizarre, and it's scary as all hell. I know that my bad knee is going to hurt for the rest of my life, and that's annoying- even painful. I know my bad shoulder once in a while will catch or cause some pain, and that's just as unfortunate. Knowing that my BRAIN isn't ever going to truly work the way it once did though, man, I don't even know how to put that in words, just how awful that is. (Ironically enough)
I had to turn the game off after that hit, I just couldn't watch Flacco looking around like that. As many bad injuries as we're seeing to star players this year, that one was my breaking point for at least last night- too many bad memories from that hit.