How do we follow/show support for injured players?

Tides_of_Change

1st Team
Sep 27, 2012
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One of the least flattering labels any criticizing voice flings onto Alabama's football program is that it is a machine-like football factory who can insert any top-flight player into a different jersey and not miss more than a beat. I hope its inner workings aren't QUITE that cold, but one way in which we as fans can prove otherwise is to show support for injured players when they go down.


In the time since Jalston, Deandrew and Dee had their seasons ended, most statements I've heard regarding them anywhere pertain to what their absence means to the team's success, to what they aren't giving that they could be if it weren't for bad fortune. There's very little inquiring about the player's current well-being. I don't think we can mistake not only the physical but psychological toll a season-ending injury can bring. After dedicating weeks worth of hours into work positioning yourself, you get leg-whipped in the fourth quarter of the third game and in that instant your entire immediate future changes. You're no longer building on promise; you're getting back to the start hoping to be close to the equivalent of what you once were. Meanwhile, we're up in the stands patting ourselves on the back for applauding as the player is helped off the field only to be preoccupied with the down and distance almost instantaneously.


I know those three guys will get the same rewards everybody else gets with any rings and trophies that may come, but there is a hollowness behind them that being injured brought about. These guys aren't full-fledged adults putting themselves on the line for large amounts of money; they're still kids in some ways.
I was just wondering if there is a way we can get updates on these players and let them know they aren't forgotten, even with the biggest games of the season still bearing down. If these players have a Twitter account or facebook page, we should look them up and drop them a quick note. There's not much some snooty Northeastern beat writer could complain about with a Tide fan keeping these "robots" in mind four days before the Iron Bowl by simply inquiring how they are and wishing them well in rehab. You probably won't get a response (though that's not the point), but collectively, it might be what picks up one of these guys on a tough day.


I don't Twitter, but this is Jalston's facebook:


Jalston: https://www.facebook.com/jalston.fowler.5?fref=ts


If anybody knows of a way to give a shout out to Dee and Deandrew, by all means put it in a reply.




Roll Tide!
 

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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This is a lot more problematic than it seems at first glance. First, release of medical details of rehab is against federal law, without the written consent of the patient. Second, the AD has a policy against commenting on injuries , other than season-ending injuries and also will not comment on progress of rehabilitation, other than in the most general terms. Some of us have other avenues of following severity/rehab progress, but we can't publish it here (or anywhere else) without violating the AD's policies and jeopardizing our sources. So, unless it becomes general knowledge, there's not going to be much learned here about the "inside story" of any athlete's progress in recovery from an injury. This will never change. Now, if an athlete comments on social media on his progress, I would heartily endorse encouraging him. Every little bit helps. At the same time, I'd caution that an athlete's comments on his own progress are usually pretty optimistic. This is not bad. This is good. And it shouldn't stop any of us from following that player and encouraging him. I'm just saying that, if an athlete says he's going to be back 100% next week, you need to take it with a grain of salt and hope he's completely right...
 

Tides_of_Change

1st Team
Sep 27, 2012
459
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This is a lot more problematic than it seems at first glance. First, release of medical details of rehab is against federal law, without the written consent of the patient. Second, the AD has a policy against commenting on injuries , other than season-ending injuries and also will not comment on progress of rehabilitation, other than in the most general terms. Some of us have other avenues of following severity/rehab progress, but we can't publish it here (or anywhere else) without violating the AD's policies and jeopardizing our sources. So, unless it becomes general knowledge, there's not going to be much learned here about the "inside story" of any athlete's progress in recovery from an injury. This will never change. Now, if an athlete comments on social media on his progress, I would heartily endorse encouraging him. Every little bit helps. At the same time, I'd caution that an athlete's comments on his own progress are usually pretty optimistic. This is not bad. This is good. And it shouldn't stop any of us from following that player and encouraging him. I'm just saying that, if an athlete says he's going to be back 100% next week, you need to take it with a grain of salt and hope he's completely right...

Thanks for the in-depth reply, Earle. I should've clarified that of course this doesn't pertain to injuries that aren't season ending, and realize the privacy policy in place there. Nor would I expect any type of explanation of rehab or any kind of read on actual progress; it's purely just a sign of encouragement for the athlete himself. Some athletes might not care what fans think and some might take positive support quite personally.
I don't think I've heard a UA player say this recently, but I've heard players say (most notably a Georgia player, I believe, a couple seasons ago) that basically when the chips are up, fans are all about the Ws and couldn't care less about the player as a person (excluding some fan favorites, obviously) and then when things are going badly, players are sometimes personally targeted for attack. Some have speculated this is a fairly wide-spread feeling among lesser known yet contributing players.

I guess it just goes with the sentiments of the holiday season, but we should be thankful for the safety of our healthy players and caring about the injuries as well. It doesn't take but a few seconds to drop by a player's social media page with some well wishes!

Happy Holidays, Everyone.
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
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I was going to say what Earle said, but he said it better than I could. HIPPA, university plicy, etc, keep us from getting offical news of how a player is doing. I wish all our injured players well in their recovery, but their health really isn't any of our business.

I don't think fans don't care about injured players, but it is probably a case of out of sight, out of mind. I'm sure fans care about them, but if they are off the field and the media is blocked from reporting on them, we aren't going to hear about them.
 

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