03
May
07

If you watch football, you must read this article.

When I think about former pro-bowler and fellow Wake Forest alum Mike McCrary, I always remember the sweet Mustang 2.0 that he drove around campus. That thing was cherry red, with a full spoiler kit. Combine that with the fact that he was a tall, muscular football player and you know that this guy was really living the life during his college years. McCrary surprised everybody by going on to be a star defensive end for the Baltimore Ravens when they had one of the most feared defenses in the history of the league.

Now, he can barely walk.

Via The Baltimore Sun

His knees ache with pain so intense that he says he is unable to stand for more than a few minutes.

“I look silly at cocktail parties. I’m the only one sitting down,” said former Ravens defensive end Michael McCrary.

He is 36 years old.

He has taken a blizzard of medications for chronic pain and depression, casually rattling off the names as if they were afternoon snacks.

“I’ve been on Percocet, Percodan, OxyContin, oxycodone, three different psychiatric medicines,” he said. “I had a fentanyl patch; that’s like heroin. I’m on methadone now.

“You know when people said it was crazy, all that stuff that Anna Nicole [Smith] was taking? Man, that’s the same stuff I take.”

I’m 34. I couldn’t imagine facing the prospect of getting two knee replacements in a couple of years. But for a few million dollars a year…I would have done the same thing.


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