That was the last time I mentioned my achilles problems on this ol’ blog-a-roo. At that time, I was frustrated and for the 1st time actually seeking some outside help. Well, a trip to the doctor and 2 trips to a physical therapist later, and here I am. After the second visit to PT, I actually decided to nix going. I think there could have been some benefit in continuing to go, but a lot of what they did in my 2 visits there I could do on my own, and the additional time spent away from home just wasn’t worth it to me. Regardless, both of my achilles felt probably as good as they had in about 6 months…prior to Saturday that is.
Saturday was game number 2 on our co-ed touch football league schedule. Actually, it was supposed to be game number 6, but 3 rainouts and 1 forfeit altered things. As I said, thanks to a vigorous heating, icing, and stretching routine, I actually felt really good going into Saturday’s game. I actually had designs on playing a rare weekend doubleheader for me: football on Saturday and basketball on Sunday.
I felt so good that on the 1st play of the game I actually caught a short pass near our own goal line and darted just short of midfield before being tagged…a rarity for anyone who has seen me play football. Think of me in the sense of this league as a big athletic tight end with hands...Barry Sanders I am not.
Nope.
You don’t normally see a lot of YAC on my receptions as football nerds would term it, but that's just an indication of how my legs felt. That 1 catch and past experience playing this team was enough for them to essentially play a box-and-1 – 1 guy playing me man-to-man with a zone defense behind it – for the rest of the 1st half…respect.
Our offenses traded a few scores, and then on the 2nd or 3rd defensive possession of the 1st half, it happened. Playing middle linebacker, I read the opposing quarterback’s eyes and jumped underneath a seam route for an interception. The only problem was that my brain was so convinced at how good my body was feeling that it convinced my body to do something it shouldn’t have.
Normally, I would try to score in that situation, but I wouldn’t overdo it. I smelled the end zone though, and I tried to plant and cut hard enough that only the 18 year old version of me might be able to pull off. I immediately felt my left achilles stretch in a way that it definitely isn’t supposed to, and pulled up lame. I even almost dropped the ball Santonio Holmes style upon feeling that pull…thankfully, I had already been tagged, and the play had been whistled dead.
Yep.
Somehow, I gutted out the rest of the game at about 75% speed of what I started it at. It would be a stretch to call playing through an injury in a weekend adult rec sports league courageous, but I’m not exactly sure how I made it through the game. (Needless to say, the other team ditched its box-and-1 strategy when they realized I was hurt.) Oh, and we won. So there’s that.
And so continues the saga of probably the most frustrating injury I’ve ever had to deal with…not sure how many more of these setbacks I can take.
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