Urlacher; "Painkillers OK, I Want To Play"...........

Updated: January 24, 2012, 12:41 PM ET

Brian Urlacher gets injections to play

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ESPNChicago.com


Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher loves the game so much that he gets pain-killing injections and would not admit to feeling like he had a concussion in order to stay on the field.

Urlacher appeared on "Real Sports" on HBO and said that he has been shot up with Toradol, an anti-inflammatory that can decrease pain by reducing inflammation.
Waddle & Silvy



HBO's Andrea Kremer joined "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000 and discussed the "Real Sports" segment on Toradol featuring Brian Urlacher.
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"It's normal," Urlacher told "Real Sports". "You drop your pants, you get the alcohol, they give you a shot, put the Band-Aid on and you go out and play."

Interviewer Andrea Kremer points out in the segment that regularly using the drug can lead to kidney failure and gastrointestinal bleeding. Urlacher professed to not knowing the side effects but says it didn't really matter.

"First of all, we love football," Urlacher said in quotes obtained by the Chicago Tribune. "We want to be on the field as much as we can be. If we can be out there, it may be stupid, it may be dumb, call me dumb and stupid then, because I want to be on the football field."

That even applies to not disclosing to medical personnel that he believed he had a concussion.
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"If I have a concussion these days, I'm going to say something happened to my toe or knee just to get my bearings for a few plays," he told HBO, according to the Tribune. "I'm not going to sit in there and say I got a concussion. (Then) I can't go in there the rest of the game."

The drug, which is not addictive and not a narcotic, is given by a doctor to injured players.

A Bears source said that the team also takes concussions seriously, becoming the first NFL franchise to make baseline testing mandatory in 1995.

In certain ways, like this, Urlacher reminds me a lot of Dan Hampton. "Danimal" underwent I can't remember how many knee surgeries and still buckled up his helmet to play every Sunday in pain or not. I'll just hope for Urlacher's sake that he doesn't get a concussion or any other type of head injury that would make staying in the game really dangerous.

It's not difficult to see why some of these guys end up pretty lame or dieing early in life from the punishment thier bodies take. It must be like being in a dozen auto accident per game. Maybe some of these guys are freaks of nature not only in their abilities but also in their tolerance for pain.

Ya' gotta admit the guy loves the game and at this rate he could play for another 5 years if he can stay healthy.

=> http://www.dabears.com/chicago_bears...ions_play.html ;-)

Sorry lb I must have been posting at the same time you were. The board is running very slow for me this AM so I didn't catch it. Maybe the staff can combine these two under your thread when they see it. I'll point it out to them.

Staff; If one of you guys catches this duplicate post would you just combine this one with little bears since he posted his first. Thanks.