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In an article on The Player’s Tribune published earlier this week, Finley revealed that he became withdrawn, lonely, easily-irritated and awkward around other people.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.