The One-Armed Bandit

I only have one arm for 10 more days.

Literally.

On Wednesday, February 9th, I had shoulder surgery to repair my torn labrm in my left shouler. It looks similar to this:

I tore it in college playing football and pretty much self diagnosed myself with a torn labrum the more and more I researched it but I just kept plugging along. We devised a nice little pad that rested between my shoulder and shoulder pads to minimize the impact on it during contact but it never stopped hurting. It eventually gave out on me during my Pro Day in March of 2007. Yea. DURING Pro Day. Within the crowd of NFL talent evaluators was Lovie Smith, head coach of the Chicago Bears, and I even think the GM of the Packers was there. Talk about bad timing.

Now I was by no means anything close to a star in my time at Texas. I was a role player that worked hard and enjoyed the experience. That being said, I knew if I could put together a decent Pro Day I might get a shot at trying out for some NFL team. Well God and my shoulder had other plans.

I was in the middle of doing reps of 225 on bench press and when I got to about 6 or 7 it tightened up really bad, pain shot through my arm and I just couldn't physically do anymore. Despite that, I was approached about playing in some arena leagues in the following months but I'd always told myself I'd give it one solid shot and let the chips fall where they may. I wasn't going to chase it. For some guys, they're ok with the journey. In my situation, I just wasn't comfortable with the ups and downs of always having to move every few months and never knowing what the future held.

I still have really tough days where I miss football to no end. That'll be a good blog one day. Prob a pretty long one. But for now I'm just counting down the days where I can successfully tie my shoes on my own again.

-The One-Armed Bandit aka M.G.M.