You know, at some point we all would have laughed about that headline. Former Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley, although extremely talented, often had no filter between his brain and his mouth.
Part of his legacy is most certainly about saying things that he shouldn’t have in public.
But this isn’t funny.
We all know how Finley’s career ended — a neck injury took football from him six games into the 2013 season. He ended up collecting on a $10 million insurance policy after announcing his retirement in 2014.
We’ve heard little from Finley since. There’s good reason for that.
In an article on The Player’s Tribune published earlier this week, Finley revealed that he became withdrawn, lonely, easily-irritated and awkward around other people.
In addition to the neck injury, Finley says he had five concussions during his football career.
He ended up going to a neurological clinic for fear that his condition might worsen as he got older. And that’s where the brain reset comes in.
The doctors told me that when you get a concussion — and remember, I had five — it can have long-lasting effects on the way certain areas of the brain work. By looking at the map of my brain, they identified those areas, and then they put me on a program that stimulated them to improve brain function. They basically reset my brain to get the different parts working together again the way they’re supposed to.
Just having that discussion with them was huge for me. I had been thinking that this whole thing was something that would pass over time. That it was temporary. I’d figure it out.
The good news is, Finley is back to normal today. He coaches football and is urging other former players to get help if they need it.
You can read the full piece here.
Wasn’t Finley the guy who said the Packers should sign his boy Jared Cook last year? It isn’t quite like he fell off the face of the earth.
He collected the 10 million? You know this how? Most Insurance Company’s don’t just pay out 10 million on a players demand. Especially when he was offered an NFL contract.
I’ll trust you did your due diligence fact finding, before reporting that he collected. But i’d like to see the “source” of that info as i haven’t been able to find it.
Chris Larcheveque, executive vice president of International Specialty Insurance, explained Finley’s legal situation in Getlin’s story.
“Where they hurt themselves, is they put out the theory that he’s OK to play football,” Larcheveque said. “Why would Lloyds [of London] pay $10 million on a disability policy if the player and his agent put in their head that he actually can play the game? Lloyds is going to tell the judge when they go to court, and they’re going to go to court, that a top surgeon says he can play, and that he’s not totally permanently disabled which is what he has to be to collect that money. His agent laid the foundation for Lloyds to make their argument.”
Rob Demovsky
ESPN Staff Writer
Oct 21, 2015
“What’s crazy is I just feel normal,” he said. “I don’t feel anything. They say the eye in the sky don’t lie. When you put that MRI on that neck, it doesn’t look too good.”
He would not say whether he collected the $10 million disability insurance policy that he and his agent, Blake Baratz, took out well before his injury, but said he’s in a good place financially.
Funny how he won’t say if he collected, because that’s all he crowed about a year ago is collecting it. I say he didn’t get a dime.
In an article on The Player’s Tribune published earlier this week, Finley revealed that he became withdrawn, lonely, easily-irritated and awkward around other people.
Translation: I want a slice of that NFL concussion lawsuit pie.
This is serious stuff. Glad to see he’s taking necessary precautions.