Aaron Rodgers once recalled losing sight in one eye after scary hit from London Fletcher - "I was just metallic"
Aaron Rodgers is coming to the end of his career, but one hit by London Fletcher nearly made it that happen way earlier. The new Jets quarterback is getting ready for one last swansong. Having left the Green Bay Packers, he will try to cement in legacy in the upcoming few years by trying to add to his four MVPs and solitary Super Bowl.
But before he gets there, one must remark at the longevity of his career. He is already 39 years old and will turn 40 midway through this season. In a sport where the average career is a mere three years, we must not remove our eye from how legendary a career this has been.
But talking about eyes, there was a time when all of this might have looked a fantasy for Aaron Rodgers. Such is the brutality of the sport, things can change in an instant. Especially when it comes to head injuries.
One such instance happened early in his career while playing for the Green Bay Packers. They were playing the Washington franchise and facing him on the opposing defense was London Fletcher. A model of consistency, London Fletcher was always there when you needed him if you were on his team.
On the flipside, that meant that he was often there for the opposing offense where they did not need him to be. In one such play, he managed to sack Aaron Rodgers behind the line of scrimmage. As the quarterback recollected back in 2016, three people converged on him and it was probably Fletcher who hid the side of his head.
That caused him to have his first concussion and the symptoms he described were scary. He said that he could not see out of one eye, except a silver-metallic hue.
"I had a bizarre metallic -- one eye went metallic. I could only see out of my right eye... I got hit. We were playing Washington. I got hit by like three guys on a blitz. London Fletcher came around and he was one of three guys that kind of hit me. Side of the head... Yeah. It went out -- it was just metallic. It was like a silver metallic in the left side."
London Fletcher's hit was the first concussion for Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers also recalled, in the same interview with Bill Simmons, the other time he had a concussion while playing for the Green Bay Packers. It was in a NFC North game against the Detroit Lions when he got knocked out temporarily. He said:
"I got knocked out… For a split-second. And then I got up and my chin strap was, like, across my nose and you could see Gene Steratore -- one of my favorite referees -- and he kind of comes over to me and he's like, 'Hey, are you OK?' And I don't remember this, but I'm like, 'Yeah, fine. I'm fine.' So, there was a timeout called, went over to the sideline and I think I waved, 'I'm good. I'm good.' That's just kind of what's built into you."
He added that he wanted to play on but could not identify plays and was sensibly taken off.
"Then I went back out there for a couple plays. I didn't know. I couldn't call the plays… The only thing I remember about that sequence was, I was under center and I didn't know if it was a run or a pass... it was a hard play-fake to the right and I had the post runner wide-open for a touchdown. But I didn't know if it was a run or a pass, so I kind of moved backwards and then held it and got sacked. And then that was it. I came out of the game."
The New York Jets fans might want to pray that such incidents do not happen while playing for them. They have invested a lot in him with the aim to win a Super Bowl, or reach the playoffs at a minimum. They have given him the tools on offense, but they must ensure that they get the best protection for him to succeed.