If you’ve read much of my stuff, you know that the one thing I hate, more than anything else, is when players (or coaches or media figures) paint an overly optimistic picture of an injured player’s outlook without explaining themselves. Sadly, such is the case right now with Browns DB Joe Haden. In 2015, Haden missed two games with a concussion, then returned only to suffer another concussion that caused him to miss the last nine (!) weeks of the season. Obviously, this is a scary situation. I’m no monster, and I hope Haden has a full recovery, but I’ve got to admit, it bugs the crap out of me when I read his unchecked optimism, such as in this piece by Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot. Haden’s exact words are:
Although, I haven’t been able to clear protocol the specialist I have met with have told me they expect a full recovery. I’m looking forward that, returning to form, having a good offseason and an even better 2016 season.
It’s notable that this piece was published December 14th, a full six weeks after Haden’s second concussion. So after six weeks, Haden still hadn’t been cleared from his concussion, and yet he’s talking about how everyone expects him to have a full recovery. Again, I can’t stress this enough, I hope that he does recover. But to throw this out there like it’s a given is just ridiculous.
It even gets a little worse, as two weeks after that quote, Browns beat writer Nate Ulrich tweeted this:
#Browns CB Joe Haden said he experienced headaches, light sensitivity, was hidden in his house for a month or two.
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) December 31, 2015
Does this sound like a man who we should expect a full recovery from? Maybe this is a bias in my own memory, but Haden’s case reminds me of that of Raiders LB Nick Roach, and that one didn’t end so well.
