OT: Adrian Arrington [edit: Not U of M's Adrian Arrington] Opens Up About Post Career Struggles

Submitted by HelloHeisman91 on December 18th, 2021 at 9:30 AM

By Adrian Arrington,

My whole life, all I wanted to do was to work with kids and help change their lives for the better. I played college football so I could get my degree and work in education to help kids. I wasn’t the best student, but I knew football could put me in a position where I could control my circumstances after college. 

I played hard to earn and keep my scholarship. During my career I suffered multiple concussions that I wasn’t aware of. I was negligently put back into games, which only made things worse. I was playing through concussions that I didn’t remember or understand. At one point, my dad had to leave the stands and step in to tell trainers to keep me out of the game. 
 

https://concussionfoundation.org/personal-stories/inspiring-stories/control-your-mental-health

[edit: This story is about a different person by the same name, just a quick scan of the linked article reveal that this gentleman grew up in Mississippi and also lived in Illinois; our Adrian Arrington hails from Iowa.

I'll be leaving the thread up on the board, (also labeled it 'OT'), as it concentrates on the successes this young man has had in dealing with concussion issues in his life post-football.

-rob f]

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mGrowOld

December 18th, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^

Holy shit that's an important detail overlooked in the title.

"Michigan players stage walk out and refuse to play their next game unless payment demands are met."

Oh....I didnt meant the University of Michigan football players.  I was referring to the semi-pro rugby team playing out of Alpena.  My bad.

Joined: 10/04/2010

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Germany_Schulz

December 18th, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^

And EVEN IF it was the player who played at UM - Why post that here? 

To potentially draw UM into a "negative light" - implying UM doesn't care for its players or should be sued for liability?  

Is this a Michigan FAN blog or a place to point towards "possible liabilities" with the football program? 

I think it's amazing how many people try to post a "Gotcha Michigan" post on here and claim to be fans of the University of Michigan.  

Go Blue. 

Joined: 11/28/2015

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Wolverheel

December 18th, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^

Ok, come on. If a former player had this experience you would want to silence them? You think those on the site should ignore negative things done by the program? Were you here in 2014 during concussion-gate, or…? This is an absurd, dangerous viewpoint. You can’t seriously tell me that your fandom of a college football team is such that you want to ignore dangerous things that team is doing to players because it might be bad for the program. If this is the case, you put *way* too much into college football.

Luckily we aren’t talking about Michigan here. Doesn’t really change how screwed up this viewpoint it.

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TruBluMich

December 18th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^

One side of me thinks it's easy to look back and judge decisions that either you or someone else made based on new and evolving information and education. However, another side of me also remembers playing sports and hearing, "you're fine, you just knocked the cobwebs off" or "rub some dirt on it, you'll be fine."  Then there was the ultimate guilt trip of being told if you don't play, you're letting your teammates down. 

Thankfully, we are advancing further and further towards understanding and identifying when players have concussion symptoms. But, unfortunately, we still aren't there in terms of coaches and, equally important, players recognizing the long-term severity.

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blue in dc

December 18th, 2021 at 10:10 AM ^

My wife coaches girls soccer.   She coaches above the purely recreational level, but not at a super high competitive level.   Even there, kids and parents fight getting held out of games and practices for concussions.   My wife had a pretty significant concussion playing high school soccer when she and another player both went up to head the same ball and my daughter had a pretty significant concussion banging her head against the wall in an indoor soccer match so she takes them pretty seriously.   The league she coaches in also has required concussion training and concussion protocols for players.

Still, if a girl gets her bell rung, probably half the parents and players will be upset if she sits them for the rest of the game.   When she pushes to get them medically cleared to play again (which she does if after the game they are still exhibiting symptoms), the pushback is even harder.

There is definitely more education needed, even today.  

 

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kalamazoo

December 18th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^

Can see soccer over most sports, having played a number of years myself. I really enjoyed the pain from headers, especially when it would go into the net. Obviously there are common head to head collisions without helmets also.

I still would think american football would have more per game if diagnosed enough, but on a totals basis, soccer is a global game and would have more by far.

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oriental andrew

December 19th, 2021 at 9:01 AM ^

There are far more kids playing soccer at the junior levels than football or really any other contact sport. Younger kids are prohibited by US Soccer rules from doing headers until age 12 (or U-12 age bracket, more precisely). That means you have a bunch of 12-18 year olds doing headers, but it's also a very physical sport.

My 16 yo niece has been out twice in the last few years due to concussion protocols; both were from getting knocked in the head by other players, not from heading. Her younger brother (14) has also been out due to concussion protocol, also not from heading. They both play high-level soccer and the girl (currently a junior in HS) is drawing interest from some solid P5 programs (NW, Pitt, UWashington, Illinois, etc.). 

So that doesn't surprise me at all. 

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KO Stradivarius

December 18th, 2021 at 3:53 PM ^

It's amazing that parents wouldn't want to err on the side of caution and hold out their kid if they had their "bell rung". They are idiots. A repeat head injury too soon after a prior one can be really, really bad news. 

I had the exact opposite issue with my daughter who rode equestrian in HS. Her coach, who I really did respect a lot, seemed to minimize the concerns after she was thrown from a horse once and hit her head and had concussion symptoms.  Went to UM doc afterwards for an exam and they did say she had an obvious head injury, but coach was downplaying it and didn't want to let her out of practice per the doctors orders.  I had some words with coach and she relented.  She had another concussion about a year later and coach seemed to handle it better, but some coaches and parents are too competitive and put the kids in peril.  

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energyblue1

December 18th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^

What I don’t hear is how he like most athletes would hide and fight injury protocols.  Most athletes openly admit they hide injuries and do everything to gain an advantage including ped’s and more.  
 

only after their careers are over are they upset at coaches and schools or training staffs for not stopping them.  Some try suing.  Sure there are some that were more than complicit but many try protecting the athletes from themselves and the athletes are the ones truly culpable for their health and decisions for hiding and fighting protocols.  

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Vote_Crisler_1937

December 18th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^

“Most athletes openly admit they hide injuries and do everything to gain an advantage including peds (sic) and more.” 
 

what’s your source on this?
 

I played 5 seasons of Big Ten baseball, including a redshirt year for an injury. I lived with 3 football players and right behind a house full of golfers and wrestlers. My direct experience says that athletes don’t hide injuries at all. They try to fight through them. They try to come back fast and do as much as they can. Sometimes the coaches and staff have to push to limit a player who is trying to do too much. but they don’t hide them because that’s a very quick way to get booted. College coaches wield a lot of power and that was much more true before the portal and NIL. You lie to them and you are risking everything. 
 

now tell me how “most” players are using performance enhancing drugs? Wanna name the guys suiting up right now that you have proof of? I got drug tested 3 times per year minimum, often 4 between the Big Ten and the NCAA. 

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aa_squared

December 18th, 2021 at 2:08 PM ^

Wow!!!

Being that it wasn't the U of M Adrian Arrington, I thought it was the Penn State Adrian Arrington, but then I saw it was totally different Adrian Arrington.

Anyway, I hope all three AA-squareds, and all other players, stay healthy and can enjoy life after football.

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