As many of you know, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl this past weekend. Anyone with even a passing interest in the NFL would undoubtedly know that the Packers came into the playoffs as the sixth (and final) seed in the NFC. As a result they had to win three playoff games on the road, including the NFC championship game at their division rival the Chicago Bears. The other compelling story line from the Packers’ road to the Super Bowl was the fact that their team had been decimated by injuries. By the time they reached the Super Bowl, the Packers had 6 starters on injured reserve and nearly a dozen other players not dressed for the game. On top of that, their offense and defense veteran leaders, Donald Driver and Charles Woodson, went down in the first half with injuries that would ultimately prevent them from finishing the game. An entire article could be written (and many have been written) about the tenacity the team showed in coming back from these injuries. Suffice it to say, the Packers banded together as a team, continued to play their game, and defeated the much healthier Steelers. However, I don’t wish to bore you with yet another blog post about how resilient the Packers were in winning the Super Bowl despite devastating injuries to key players. I want to draw your attention to an injury that occurred several weeks earlier, and the importantly unusual response by one of the veteran players on the team.
Several weeks ago I read an article on ESPN.com about Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver and concussions. On December 12, in a key divisional game against the Detroit Lions, Aaron Rodgers, the Packers’ quarterback was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Like most football players, Rodgers scoffed at the severity of the injury and was intent on going back into the game. After all, a loss would severely hurt the Packers’ playoff hopes, and the loss of Rodgers would severely hurt the Packers’ chances of winning this game. One would expect that most of Rodgers’ teammates would share Rodgers’ opinion about concussions, and encourage him to get back into the game. However, veteran receiver Donald Driver, one of the team’s emotional leaders, had a different response. After taking one look at Rodgers, Driver told him he didn’t look right and that he should stay out of the game, reminding Rodgers that his long term health was much more important than any play or any one game. In doing this, Driver made it ok for Packers’ players to leave a game for a concussion or for any other serious injury without having their masculinity or commitment to the team questioned. In a year when the NFL has tried to increase awareness and change the perception of concussions, Donald Driver did more in a five minute conversation than the league has done all season. For the full original article follow this link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=keown/101221
Interestingly enough, nearly two months later at the Super Bowl, it was Driver, not Rodgers, who was sidelined with an injury during the game. While watching Driver hoping to get back in the game, I could not help but think of this article. Two points came to mind. The first, was that Driver could have used a figure like himself to come and say, “You don’t look right, you should sit this one out, your health is more important than any game.” Even though his injury was to his ankle, and much less likely to lead to serious health problems down the line than a concussion, he still appeared as though he could have used some perspective. The other point that came to mind was that it was Driver himself who, 7 weeks earlier, had helped to create the team environment that would allow a player to sit out even the second half of the Super Bowl due to injury with no snide remarks from teammates. This is the kind of team environment we sorely need in sports at all levels, but particularly at the college and professional levels. If only we could all be so blessed as coaches to have a couple of Donald Drivers on our teams.
Jesse Huff
Social Foundations of Coaching
Notre Dame, 2011
