Tony Cascarino says something very similar in his excellent autobiography, playing in France in his mid-30s he said that the morning after games he would lay in bed dreading the thought of taking his first steps of the day, knowing that he would be in absolute agony until his pain-killers kicked in.
Most of this is not just down to wear and tear - although that plays a part - its through years of players getting cortisone shots and doing whatever it takes to get on the field and play which means playing when injured - sometimes twice per week.
There was an article here yesterday about a former Rugby League players, Kevin Campion, who played through so many neck injuries that he now has no feeling in his arms, shoulders or hands, he has full movement but said that you could basically put a branding iron on his forearm and he would not even feel it - again, as he admitted, he was cautioned against playing (and told to retire years before he did) but refused to listen because he loved playing too much.
Saw him score a magnificent goal for Fiorentina in a Serie A (against Cremonese I think) match I went to back in about 95 - he was absolutely idolised there. Hope he gets better & the pain is manageable...
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Most of this is not just down to wear and tear - although that plays a part - its through years of players getting cortisone shots and doing whatever it takes to get on the field and play which means playing when injured - sometimes twice per week.
There was an article here yesterday about a former Rugby League players, Kevin Campion, who played through so many neck injuries that he now has no feeling in his arms, shoulders or hands, he has full movement but said that you could basically put a branding iron on his forearm and he would not even feel it - again, as he admitted, he was cautioned against playing (and told to retire years before he did) but refused to listen because he loved playing too much.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/charlton-no-to-batistuta-6352045.html No we signed Di Canio instead...