Knocking heads
Dressler injury shows there's a fine line between playing smart and being tough
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2016 (2831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Weston Dressler laid on his back, stunned. His helmet — the one he had used just seconds earlier to drive into the head of the oncoming Ethan Davis, a defensive back for the Montreal Alouettes — rolled on the turf beside him.
Clearly shaken from the collision, Dressler, a veteran receiver in the CFL and playing in his first game with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, looked seemingly unaware of his surroundings or what to do next.
With what little strength he had left, Dressler attempted to pull his chest up. His body eventually gave up, forcing him to roll over onto his stomach.
Around him, the play continued. Dressler had caught a pass from quarterback Drew Willy and the hit from Davis — one initiated by Dressler as he fought to gain an extra yard or two with contact — had dislodged the ball, resulting in a fumble. On the sidelines, medics waited for a whistle before they rushed in to help.
It marked the end of the night for Dressler, who was taken to the locker room to begin the early stages of the league’s concussion protocol as the Bombers marched on Friday to a 22-14 loss to the Alouettes at Investors Group Field. But it also started the beginning of a new conversation about head injuries and football. Of all the things that are being done to make today’s game safer — changes to the rules, stiffer penalties for head shots, better concussion testing, to name a few — how much are the players doing to save themselves?
In this case, Dressler, who stands 5-7 and weighs 167 pounds, did what many football players would have done. With three defenders barreling down on him as he made his way to the sidelines, Dressler decided not to step out of bounds. Instead, he turned into the defender closest up field and with all he had he put his head down and drove forward. It was the kind of play that earns respect among teammates, a move parallel to Dressler’s no-quit reputation.
The alternative — to step out, losing potential yards but lowering the risk of injury — is often viewed less favourably. Some would argue the very suggestion is worthy of persecution, initiating anywhere from dirty looks to full-on outrage from those who honour toughness over all else.
Not for former Bomber and CFL Hall of Famer Milt Stegall. On the CFL on TSN panel, Stegall, regarded as one of the CFL’s best receivers of all time, spoke about Dressler and the need to find that balance between playing smart and being tough. As a player, he said, it was always about safety, driving for extra yards only when he knew he had the chance to score.
“That tough-guy stuff is not always the best,” said Stegall. “It’s smart over tough, in my opinion.”
In an interview from his Atlanta home Monday night, Stegall was asked to clarify what he meant.
“When I say smart and tough, I’m not saying the individual is not smart,” said Stegall. “I’d say that the style of play is not smart.
“In a situation like that I don’t care if you’re a bruising fullback or a punter, I feel in that situation go out of bounds because there is nothing that you can gain out of that.”
Not all agree with Stegall. Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, one of the best middle linebackers ever to play in the CFL, balks at the notion players would put their own safety first. A traditionalist of the hard-hitting game, O’Shea spoke like a true 16-year veteran, using his years of experience to suggest players don’t work that way, at least most of them.
“That term, ‘save yourself.’ I don’t know that you’re going to hear any football player talking like that,” he said. “These aren’t average men. They don’t talk about saving themselves or taking the easy way out. They talk about competing and winning and battling and dominating, those are the words they use. Pretty tough to change a guy, his fabric, now.”
It’s not that O’Shea doesn’t look out for his players — “Player safety is always paramount in a head coach’s mind” — he just doesn’t see that kind of mentality, the one echoed by Stegall, present in his locker room, or any other he’s been in.
O’Shea said Dressler is like most players, who are going to play the way they play.
He isn’t wrong. A quick survey of his players reveals much of the same sentiment. It’s a sport built on toughness and it’s that toughness that gets you to the professional ranks.
“You try and take care of yourself during a hit, but you always got to fight for that extra yard, that’s how we’re wired,” said receiver Ryan Smith, a teammate of Dressler’s with the Riders and now in Winnipeg. “Football players, we have that always-fighting-get-that-chip-on-your-shoulder, workman mentality.”
Smith was asked whether the Dressler collision would affect what he’d do in a similar situation. Not at all, said Smith, even with the risk of a potential concussion.
“You sign up for it, it happens,” said Smith. “It’s football.”
Dressler didn’t practise Monday but hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s game against the Stampeders in Calgary.
jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @jeffkhamilton
Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer
After a slew of injuries playing hockey that included breaks to the wrist, arm, and collar bone; a tear of the medial collateral ligament in both knees; as well as a collapsed lung, Jeff figured it was a good idea to take his interest in sports off the ice and in to the classroom.
History
Updated on Tuesday, June 28, 2016 7:53 AM CDT: Adds photo