The Beckman saga has triggered some deja vu. A lot of stories have come out over the past couple of years of Gators playing with significant injuries due to a misdiagnosis combined with a staff who didn't seem too interested in player safety. My guess is this stuff happens all across the country, though it is interesting to see the clear pattern emerging from the Muschamp era. I wonder if you'd uncover a Beckman-like story if you sniffed around hard enough.
See below for some examples. I remember more but these were the only names I could recall off the top of my head.
Warren Silberman (describing his son's torn labrum)
"His injury went un-diagnosed for the entire season, and when he mentioned it to a coach, the coach was very uncaring. It was at that point that our son decided to do his best on the practice field, concentrate on the education and leave when he graduated."
Leon Orr (describing a broken wrist)
"Over the course of fall camp I started to get a strong pain in my wrist. I went to the trainers with this information asking for some type of answer. The only thing I got was a sprain. I would go to the trainer again and ask him about getting follow-up x-rays. He would say, “No, you’re fine. It’s just a wrist sprain.” So I came to my coach in tears and told him I was going through extreme pain and that my wrist was hindering my technique as a football player. Coach told me he talked to Paul Silverstri about my injury and he explained that I had to fight through it. I found out at the end of the year that I had been playing with a broken wrist the whole time."
Earl Okine (describing a fractured vertebrae)
"I hurt my back before the season. That's really what motivated me throughout the season. I wasn't treated very well after my injury because in the beginning, they didn't know it was broke."
"It happened last spring. It happened the spring going into my senior year. It was a very tough injury. It wasn't in the media much, to my surprise. I thought it would be. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to bash anybody, but I was very unhealthy, very unhappy and it was a lot of things."
Matt Jones (torn meniscus)
No quote here but if you watched that Kentucky game you could see the play where it happened - it was clear as day from the way he went down. We subsequently put him back in the game and called his number.
See below for some examples. I remember more but these were the only names I could recall off the top of my head.
Warren Silberman (describing his son's torn labrum)
"His injury went un-diagnosed for the entire season, and when he mentioned it to a coach, the coach was very uncaring. It was at that point that our son decided to do his best on the practice field, concentrate on the education and leave when he graduated."
Leon Orr (describing a broken wrist)
"Over the course of fall camp I started to get a strong pain in my wrist. I went to the trainers with this information asking for some type of answer. The only thing I got was a sprain. I would go to the trainer again and ask him about getting follow-up x-rays. He would say, “No, you’re fine. It’s just a wrist sprain.” So I came to my coach in tears and told him I was going through extreme pain and that my wrist was hindering my technique as a football player. Coach told me he talked to Paul Silverstri about my injury and he explained that I had to fight through it. I found out at the end of the year that I had been playing with a broken wrist the whole time."
Earl Okine (describing a fractured vertebrae)
"I hurt my back before the season. That's really what motivated me throughout the season. I wasn't treated very well after my injury because in the beginning, they didn't know it was broke."
"It happened last spring. It happened the spring going into my senior year. It was a very tough injury. It wasn't in the media much, to my surprise. I thought it would be. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to bash anybody, but I was very unhealthy, very unhappy and it was a lot of things."
Matt Jones (torn meniscus)
No quote here but if you watched that Kentucky game you could see the play where it happened - it was clear as day from the way he went down. We subsequently put him back in the game and called his number.
