Bears' Knox gets top care, teen athletes not as lucky
Watching the mad, hectic scramble for the latest costly fumble by inconsistent Chicago receiver Johnny Knox, disgusted Bears fans didn't grasp the real-life drama that trumped the football game. It wasn't until we saw the wince-inducing slow-motion replay of Knox's injury that fans were forced to ponder bigger life questions than whether the free-falling Bears would end the day at 7-7 or at 8-6.
Diving headfirst for the ball, the 185-pound Knox hit a bigger opponent head-on, forcing Knox's torso to bend backward at his waist in a grotesque angle generally not seen outside of fatal car crashes. As the 24-year-old speedster lay crumpled on the ground, the fans grew quiet as the Bears' medical staff methodically strapped him to a stretcher and carted him away so play could resume. Fans suddenly were forced to wonder if the young man would ever be able to walk again.
“That poignant moment and the next five minutes on the TV are what we are talking about,” says Don Grossnickle, a Catholic deacon from Arlington Heights who has spent the last decade using his Gridiron Alliance charity (gridironalliance.org) to advocate for high school athletes who suffer catastrophic injuries but don't have the protections, training, care and financial support system of a professional athlete. “The contrast is ridiculous.”
Knox underwent surgery Monday. Not only will he not be paralyzed for life, he is expected to play football again. It isn't the first time Knox has come face-to-face with the realization that one unlucky hit could end his career and change his life forever.
Last season, Knox spent some time during a Bears practice talking on the sidelines with Kenneth Jennings, a former high school football player who was paralyzed from the neck down during a 1988 game and went on to become one of the founders and board members of the Gridiron Alliance.
“I took that photo. You can see the eye-to-eye contact. It was a moment,” Grossnickle says of the meeting when a pro athlete sees what can happen. “It's scary for them to see the reality.”
The Chicago Bears organization, which hosted a fundraiser for the Gridiron Alliance a week ago, has been a great supporter of the cause. Star players such as Brian Urlacher, Devin Hester and Robbie Gould have donated time and support, Grossnickle says. Hunter Hillenmeyer, a former Bears linebacker who suffered a devastating concussion in the first game of 2010 that led to him missing the rest of that season and being released by the Bears, has conducted seminars at Northwestern University on injuries.
NFL players have wonderful medical coverage and support. Bears' legend Mike Ditka is chairman of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, which provides financial assistance and support to former players who didn't have such benefits. The National Collegiate Athletic Association carries several insurance policies for its athletes, including a Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program that also allows schools to buy extra protection for cheerleaders, dancers and other athletes who might fall through the gaps.
Grossnickle is lobbying for the Illinois High School Association, which oversees all high school sports, to add catastrophic insurance for its teenage athletes, especially in this economy when many parents don't have health insurance plans for their families. Some school districts and individual schools purchase catastrophic insurance, but Illinois and most states don't carry such coverage, notes Grossnickle, who adds that about a dozen high school athletes a year suffer catastrophic injuries in everything from cheerleading to baseball. The IHSA offers well-being training and spreads the word about the new state law regulating better screening and treatment for concussions. But Grossnickle says the state organization could do more to help prevent injuries and help those who become injured. The deacon says he wants to educate athletes and their parents and urge groups such as booster clubs to be involved in the push for catastrophic insurance.
Former NFL star Daryl Stingley, a Chicago native paralyzed during a 1978 preseason game, was a spokesman and the face of catastrophic injuries until his death in 2007 at age 55. Actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed from the neck down after he was thrown from a horse, lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries until his death in 2004 at age 52. Since then, the movement has lacked a celebrity voice.
“No, we don't have a poster guy yet,” Grossnickle says, adding that he is glad Knox wasn't forcibly recruited to the cause. “I said an instant prayer asking God to deliver him from the same fate as my guys.”