BEREA: Browns players Joe Haden and Andrew Hawkins were knocked out for the season after suffering two concussions apiece.
They expect to make full recoveries and plan to resume their NFL careers next fall, but they’ve endured some trying times this season.
Haden, a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, experienced a lot of dizziness along with sensitivity to light and noise after taking a cleat to the face Nov. 1 when Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd inadvertently kicked him.
Hawkins, a starting wide receiver, still can’t remember the devastating hit he absorbed from Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jarvis Jones on Nov. 15 or the following six hours he spent in the hospital.
Those symptoms are frightening as are the potential long-term effects of head trauma, yet some fans inexplicably criticize players when they miss significant time with concussions.
Haden has taken the brunt of it lately. Social media is rife with accusations of him mailing it in during a dismal season for the former first-round draft pick as well as the Browns (3-12), who’ll host the Steelers (9-6) in the season finale Sunday.
Haden admitted the backlash from fans bothers him “more than you will ever know.”
“What do you mean ‘cashing it in?’ I don’t get that,” Haden said Thursday, addressing the media for the first time since he suffered his season-ending concussion. “This is what I do. I love playing ball.
“Anybody who says that I am ‘cashing it in,’ I don’t believe that is a die-hard fan. People are going to say whatever they want, but just knowing my teammates, people that know me and know what I stand for, know that is not what it is at all.”
Hawkins blames the criticism on a lack of education about concussions.
“From a fan’s perspective, I understand they want people on the field,” he said. “But I would say you should probably be a little slower to accuse somebody of faking something that is kind of serious.
“They’re just misinformed. They don’t know. Unless you’ve actually had a concussion or you’ve actually been hit in the head by a 275[-pound] defensive lineman who runs [the 40-yard dash in] 4.5 [seconds], then it’s hard for you to make that distinction.”
Different era
But former players who have absorbed vicious hits are sometimes the harshest critics of players who don’t risk their lives by playing through concussions. Many of them played in a different era, when the NFL didn’t have a concussion protocol in place to help deal with the game’s No. 1 player-safety issue.
WKNR (850-AM) host Jerod Cherry, who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, recently said on the air, “If you’re serious about winning, you better play through some concussions.” The sports talk radio station displayed the quote on its ESPNCleveland.com Twitter account.
The fact that playing through concussions used to be common has led some fans to simply conclude today’s players are soft.
“I do hear criticism of that,” Hawkins said. “I can’t speak for every guy and everybody’s concussion. All I can speak is for myself. I had two this year, and all I can tell you is my first concussion was night and day from my second concussion. For everyone to lump every concussion into the same grouping like a broken ankle — a broken ankle you can look at an X-ray and say, ‘This is the same kind of broken ankle that this person had, that person had’ — concussions aren’t like that.”
Some players miss one game with a concussion.
Haden will miss 10 total, two after suffering his first concussion on Nov. 11 against the Baltimore Ravens and eight after suffering his second three weeks later.
Hawkins will miss eight total, two after suffering his first concussion Oct. 25 against the St. Louis Rams and six after suffering his second three weeks later.
“Everybody is learning about concussions on the fly,” Haden said. “With the protocol and with the way that they handle it, a lot of things are out of [players’] hands. The thing that they have to educate people on is that there are different types of concussions, there are different lengths that people are going to be out and there are different ways to treat them.”
Haden and Hawkins were evaluated and treated by Dr. Michael “Micky” Collins, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s sports medicine concussion program. They’re optimistic about the future and feeling better.
They also want to keep playing despite learning about the possible long-term effects of concussions.
“My brother [former NFL player Artrell Hawkins Jr.] used to tell me when I was coming up that football is a marriage that is guaranteed to end in divorce,” Hawkins said. “There are guys in this locker room who have devoted 20 years of their 28-year lives to something, and it’s the only constant in their lives.
“To make that decision to up and walk away is probably not as easy as everyone thinks it is or it’s not as black and white as everyone makes it out to be. Football is the longest relationship I’ve had with the exception of my family. It’s been around longer than my wife. It’s been around longer than my kids.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.