When Rodney Harrison played 15 seasons in the NFL as a defensive back, he gained a reputation for being a hard hitter and one of the most dangerous men in the league. Now a studio analyst for NBC’s Football Night In America, Harrison admits that years of hard hits are starting to take their toll on his health and likely will only get worse.
“I know it’s coming,” Harrison said during Thursday’s Dan Patrick Show. “Even now when I’m out on the golf course, there are times where I get these crucial migraines and this pounding of my head. Sometimes I get headaches to the point where I have to go lay down and get out of the sun. Sometimes, I do forget things.”
Earlier in the show, Patrick – a studio host for NBC Sports – interviewed former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon, who admitted that his short term memory is getting worse after years of taking hits to the head. McMahon, 53, also said that his girlfriend has had to take pictures of herself to make sure he remembers her.
“I’m 39 years old and this is something very scary to me at this point,” Harrison said. “I got a chance to sit with Jim McMahon in Tahoe for an hour … and he said ‘sometimes, I do forget things. Heck, I can’t remember what happened two or three days ago.’
“That’s scary to me because he was a quarterback, and I know that he got hit a lot, but I was a defensive back and I laid out and I used my helmet a lot. I got knocked out a lot.”
Harrison, a two-time All Pro who played for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots, was known for his big hits and reputation as a dirty player. During his career, he racked up over $300,000 in fines from the league and admits that he fears for some of the players that he hit during his career.
“I was trying to make a name for myself (early in his career),” Harrison said. “I was trying to establish that Rodney Harrison was not a just 5th round pick. I’m on of the best safeties around. How do you do that? You go out there and knock somebody out.
“I remember that I hit Jerry Rice with what I thought was a clean hit with my forearm right in his chest, and because of my reputation I get fined a $125,000 game check. And that’s because of my reputation. I had all the eyes in New York watching me.”
The NFL is currently facing a large class-action lawsuit from groups of retired players who felt that the league misled them about head injuries. Harrison, who was a teammate of the late Junior Seau with both the Chargers and Patriots, admitted that there were numerous occasions where he was sent back into games after being concussed, but also said that no one forced him to play the game.
“I talked the other day about being in a game and hitting somebody and the stadium is spinning all around,” he said. “All of a sudden, I jog off to the sideline, they give me a couple of Aleves – which I know right now was a concussion – and I went back into the game.
“[Former NFL defensive back] Troy Vincent said that he had 7 or 8 concussions during his career, well, I’ve had 20 to 30 concussions and I played 15 years. I’m scared to death.”
Harrison feels that he was never “directly” lied to about concussions but he did say that more should have been done to protect players such as himself. He felt that the league did not properly educate players on head injuries, but it was not done maliciously.
“The NFL should’ve done a better job of educating us to what a concussion is,” Harrison said. “If you see me stumbling off the field and the stadium is spinning around and I can’t walk straight, why would you put me back in the game?”
When asked about players who admit to lying their ways back into games or playing through obvious injuries to avoid missing time, Harrison admitted that the culture of football leads to that. He said that if he didn’t go back into a game, their coaches and teammates would question their toughness.
“If we don’t get back in the game, our peers and our coaches looks at us like we’re not tough enough,” Harrison said. “We’re trying to get the contract; we’re trying to make a statement on our team. It’s a part of the culture.”
Dallas Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten played in Wednesday night’s season opener against the New York Giants with a lacerated spleen, an injury that he suffered three weeks ago during a preseason game in Oakland. A ruptured spleen generally takes three months to fully heal and patients are generally restricted from any high-risk activities.
Harrison said that he respected Witten’s drive but questioned the wisdom of taking such a risk with an injury such as that.
“I don’t know his pain,” Harrison said. “I just tell players like this: Don’t do anything that’s going to harm you long term. If that lacerated spleen could get to the point where he could possibly die, I wouldn’t play football. It’s not that serious. You have a wife; you’ve got kids, walk away from the game healthy.”
Harrison sees a different game than the one he left four years ago. He said that he loved playing in the NFL, but he felt he got out of the game at the right time.
“I retired when I was 36 years old and I have a whole lot of life to live,” Harrison said. “I have wife and I have kids. I like to coach (youth football), and I like to be active in the community. Football’s not worth it and I can tell you that after 15 years.”