Philly.com’s Bob Brookover wrote an in depth article, “Eagles Sources Say Shawn Andrews Is Really Hurt” about Shawn Andrews’ injury problems and it adds a great deal of light on the situation. It makes a point which I’ve been trying to make here for a while.
Back injuries are hard to analyze for the doctors, much less Joe “Sixpack”.
I have been frustrated with the way Andrews has been sidelined with the back injury and I was on him just like everybody else until I thought about a good friend of mine who was a great athlete until he started having back problems.
He decided to undergo back surgery and he was never right after that. The surgery increased the pain he had and he wound up getting addicted to all those painkillers.
The doctors did all kinds of tests and he tried everything to no avail. I don’t know exactly what it was but something made me think of him when somebody was talking about Shawn Andrews.
I’ve been backpedaling ever since.
The quotes from the doctors in Brookover’s article are very strong and also make me think of my friend who could never get a clear diagnosis from the doctors but he remained in pain.
“We tried to treat it again and it didn’t get better, so he had an MRI and several doctors looked at the MRI and saw some irregularities,” the source said.
So the doctors saw some irregularities, yet nearly the entire Delaware Valley is ready to convict Shawn of being a free loading punk.
I have no tolerance nor stomach for players who fake inuries, but I’d like to have proof that they’re really faking the injury.
I’m not saying Shawn Andrews is perfect but do you have to be perfect to be treated fairly. All injuries are different but I know that back injuries are nothing to play with.
I don’t envy Shawn’s position. What do you do if you have a back injury which is difficult for the doctors to diagnose, yet everybody is calling you a coward?
Everybody in the media who has attacked Shawn Andrews for faking should publicly apologize because it seems from Bob Brookover’s article that the guy is really hurt.
I apologize for jumping to conclusions then writing and saying that he should be back out on the field. I hope he gets back to health then comes back and plays the way he’s capable of doing.
Yes, we’re tough on our athletes here in Philadelphia which is fine, but we shouldn’t only be tough, we should also be fair.
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