Redskins Sign RB Ryan Grant/Place Roy Helu Jr. on IR

Wasn't there a player recently who played an entire game with a broken bone in his arm ... as a long snapper ... who continued to snap and cover punts throughout the game ... didn't he play for a team we are all familiar with .... hmmmmm

What softies these modern players are.
I know....right?
Look at Joey T...took a shot from LT...busted his fib...femur thing. Shit fire, he played another 3 qtrs....oh wait, that ended his career.
.......never mind.

The strength and the speed of the pro game has undoubtedly increased in the last two or three decades. Players have been delivering punishing, murderous hits to offensive players as far back as the 1960s. Jack Tatum, Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, were all fearsome hitters.

While the size and strength as well as speed of the players have increased, the impact of the hits is still the same. Of course players back then missed time, but in today's NFL, if a player is injured it's a given that he's going to miss some time. Back in 1981, Kellen Winslow Sr. played hurt for four quarters in a playoff game against the Miami Dolphins that the Chargers ultimately won. I haven't seen a player play injured with that degree or level of tenacity in the last 30 years. As recent as 2004, Terrell Owens played in the Super Bowl with a severely bum ankle that a lot of players today would miss the biggest game in football for because they can't suck it up and play.

Roy Helu Jr. is soft. He's a cream puff and you can't convince me otherwise.


Its his second year, lets hold off on that just yet. Guy rushed for 640 yards and caught another 370 in reception yards his rookie year. Every play he is in there giving it 110%. Thats just a little much, cream puff?

Wasn't there a player recently who played an entire game with a broken bone in his arm ... as a long snapper ... who continued to snap and cover punts throughout the game ... didn't he play for a team we are all familiar with .... hmmmmm

What softies these modern players are.

That dude is a sissy! You're not tough unless you've got two broken arms, dammit!

I think Grant could be a nice fit and a solid contributor if he's healthy and good to go.

I think he's averaged sbout 4.3 to 4.6 yards per carry for his career. He's got good size and is a good blocker. I think he's gonna turn out to be a nice pickup for us.

That dude is a sissy! Get back to me when you've got two broken arms, dammit!

2 broken arms and 2 broken legs. No pain, no gain.

The strength and the speed of the pro game has undoubtedly increased in the last two or three decades. Players have been delivering punishing, murderous hits to offensive players as far back as the 1960s. Jack Tatum, Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, were all fearsome hitters.

While the size and strength as well as speed of the players have increased, the impact of the hits is still the same. Of course players back then missed time, but in today's NFL, if a player is injured it's a given that he's going to miss some time. Back in 1981, Kellen Winslow Sr. played hurt for four quarters in a playoff game against the Miami Dolphins that the Chargers ultimately won. I haven't seen a player play injured with that degree or level of tenacity in the last 30 years. As recent as 2004, Terrell Owens played in the Super Bowl with a severely bum ankle that a lot of players today would miss the biggest game in football for because they can't suck it up and play.

Roy Helu Jr. is soft. He's a cream puff and you can't convince me otherwise.

How can you say the impact of the hit is the same if the hit is coming from a stronger, faster, bigger player (as you yourself agree they are today)? - that makes no sense. Helu has a body which unfortunatley doesnt cooperate with him. Its a shame. Some guys are injury prone - i dont think that makes them cream puffs.

This has to be the most injured (injury-prone) team in the league. I don't recall it ever being this bad before.

Wonder if that's true -- injuries are all over the league, and I'd expect us to be no different in numbers of injuries than other teams. Anyone have stats on the injuries to our team (starters) vs. other teams in the league over the past few years?

And if we do get more injuries, here are a couple of questions to ponder:
1) Is our training staff to blame?
2) Is our scouting dept to blame for drafting / obtaining injury-prone players?
3) Is our scheme to blame for using strategies that lead to injuries? Chop-blocks, option plays, blitzes, etc.
4) Do we have a generous injury clause here in contracts that promotes risky behaviors?
5) etc

Here's a Helu question: could the achilles injuries led to turf toe? I'm thinking about how athletes will compensate for an injury in their step or stride, which can lead to other injuries.

My curiousity is because it seems strange and pretty worrisome Helu got turf toe w/o a lot of miles, like how injury prone is he?

These injuries are not related (in my medical opinion). However, you are correct that certain injuries can lead to other injuries through a compensatory mechanism.

Turf toe is not an easy thing to treat and I seem to recall that Helu battled this toward the end of last season. If its the same foot I wouldn't be surprised as these injuries can be chronic. It's especially debilitating for athletes who rely on a great deal of acceleration in the position they play. Helu's game is built on his straight line speed so these injuries obviously greatly impact his ability.

I've actually been in a walking boot for the past several weeks with a similar but different toe injury that has been an issue for months. Its frustrating to deal with even as a non-athlete.

Nonetheless, my wife thinks I'm being a sissy...

How can you say the impact of the hit is the same if the hit is coming from a stronger, faster, bigger player (as you yourself agree they are today)? - that makes no sense. Helu has a body which unfortunatley doesnt cooperate with him. Its a shame. Some guys are injury prone - i dont think that makes them cream puffs.

Have you seen films of Dick Butkus hit players? Butkus played at 6'3 245, and was a very powerful hitter. Regardless if the year is 1968 or if the year is 2012, a 245 pound man is a 245 pound man. If Butkus played in today's NFL, his hits would carry the same weight as it did in the time that he played. Jack Tatum was 5'10 200 pounds and without a doubt THE MOST ferocious hitter in NFL history. He once paralyzed a man from the waist down on the gridiron(Darryl Stingley).

The pro game has always been violent. Although the players today are stronger and faster, there were those players way back when who undoubtedly could play with the same viciousness in today's NFL.

(1) You realize the size, strength and speed of current players is beyond anything with which the "classic gridiron" guys dealt? (The Hogs were the heaviest O-line of their day. Today, they would be the smallest, by far, in the league).

(2) "Sissies"? That is just plain ignorant, moronic, obtuse - take your pick of adjectives describing someone who holds an opinion completely lacking in anything but apocryphal data for support. I am 50 year old guy - "back-in-the-day" I saw some players play with pain and some who refused. Your "opinion" is simply a personal bias lacking any factual data. Further, your rose-colored "back in my day" attitude denigrates the serious risks these guys put themself in week in and week out.

I stand by that opinion.

P.S.: John Riggins missed much of the 74 season due to an shoulder injury and the 77 season due to a sknee injury -- and then of course there's that contract thing in '80. Just saying...

P.P.S.: Being an old-timer, I am sure you remember Jim Brown calling Franco Harris a softie b/c he ran out of bounds to avoid contact and of course you recall that Harris didn't deny it but asserted he was just playing smart ...

Joe, you got so excited with 'obtuse' and 'apocryphal', that you followed it up immediately with 'i am 50 year old guy'. you could have spared one of the a's in apocryphal and paid it forward to your next sentence.

That said, i agree.