Update: Dorian Strong Neck Injury "Not Progressing", "Have Had Talks"

[Paup 1995MVP]

15 hours ago, RunTheBall said:

It’s clear Strong has a career threatening neck issue. This isn’t something that was solely caused by practice. He’s probably had an issue for many years, tweaked it in practice, and got a horrific MRI result when they investigated. It’s either multiple disk protrusions or spinal stenosis at the cervical level. I’m leaning more towards the stenosis issue because disks can be successfully dealt with (Eichel, Hyde), whereas stenosis it’s not so simple. Unfortunately I think his career is over. The young man should take the money and pursue a different career. It sucks, but he will have a solid financial launching pad that 99% of people in this country don’t have.

 

Wasn't the guy a 5th round pick?  How much of a bonus did he get?  And I doubt his contract is guaranteed.  That's not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of how much it costs to live in this era.

 

The money isn't nearly as big as having your dream cut short almost before it started.  That sucks.  

 

 

[RunTheBall]

4 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Wasn't the guy a 5th round pick?  How much of a bonus did he get?  And I doubt his contract is guaranteed.  That's not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of how much it costs to live in this era.

 

The money isn't nearly as big as having your dream cut short almost before it started.  That sucks.  

 

 

The rookie minimum is about $840,000 a year, plus he’d get an injury settlement. How many years does it take 90% of the posters on the board to make over a million bucks? I’d say that’s a pretty good launching point for a new career. I agree 100% that it sucks having your dream job pulled out from under you. Sucks worse to be a quadriplegic I’d think.

 

[Big Turk]

4 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Did they try rubbing dirt on it?

 

That's a pretty sh!tty comment for the situation.

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

That's a pretty sh!tty comment for the situation.

Fair.  Bad on me 

[ganesh]

5 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Wasn't the guy a 5th round pick?  How much of a bonus did he get?  And I doubt his contract is guaranteed.  That's not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of how much it costs to live in this era.

 

The money isn't nearly as big as having your dream cut short almost before it started.  That sucks.  

 

 

But they take big insurance against such injuries.  His injury settlement with Bills also will probably give him his entire salary. 
 

spoetrac shows his salary cap hit is 645K. Probably made a million with bonus.  

[Paup 1995MVP]

1 hour ago, RunTheBall said:

The rookie minimum is about $840,000 a year, plus he’d get an injury settlement. How many years does it take 90% of the posters on the board to make over a million bucks? I’d say that’s a pretty good launching point for a new career. I agree 100% that it sucks having your dream job pulled out from under you. Sucks worse to be a quadriplegic I’d think.

 

It sure would Run the Ball.  A cringe just thinking about that.  Remember that happening to Derrick Thomas years ago when he was in a car accident on an icy road on the way to the airport?  Dam that sucks.

 

That is nice money for a young person to be making.  I would be happy if my three young adult kids were making that combined.  It would sure save me a lot of cash and headache:)

14 minutes ago, ganesh said:

But they take big insurance against such injuries.  His injury settlement with Bills also will probably give him his entire salary. 
 

spoetrac shows his salary cap hit is 645K. Probably made a million with bonus.  

That is good money for a young person.  I sure hope he can come back and play.  The kid had talent.  But that Stenosis in the Cervical Spine (narrowing of the spinal canal is probably congenital, and was likely aggravated from the injury in practice) can be a serious thing.  Remember Derrick Burroughs having to retire with something like that in the late 80's?  He was a real good CB also. 

 

[Flipnmi]

Below is a summary of the medical testing done at the NFL Combine, which Dorian attended. I suggest the speculation regarding Stenosis or Myelomalacia be put on hold and we wait for more details of his injury to become available. It's obviously a serious situation, but at this point, none of us have any way of knowing if it is career ending or not. McDermott's comments were not encouraging, but let's hope he can return and have a long healthy and successful career with the Bills.  

  

The medical evaluations at the Combine involve:

Comprehensive History: Players provide a detailed medical history, including any past spinal injuries, "stingers" (transient neuropraxia), or surgeries.

Physical Examinations: Each player undergoes multiple thorough orthopedic exams by physicians from all 32 NFL teams.

Imaging Studies: A wide range of imaging studies are performed or reviewed, including X-rays and MRI scans of the cervical spine. These images are specifically used to assess the spinal canal dimensions and identify any narrowing (stenosis) or spinal cord abnormalities (myelomalacia).

Risk Assessment: The findings are used by team doctors to assign an orthopedic grade, which helps general managers and coaches evaluate the risk of future injury and the player's potential career longevity in the NFL. 

[Beck Water]

10 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Wasn't the guy a 5th round pick?  How much of a bonus did he get?  And I doubt his contract is guaranteed.  That's not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of how much it costs to live in this era.

 

The money isn't nearly as big as having your dream cut short almost before it started.  That sucks.  

 

He got a signing bonus of $285.356 and that's all that was guaranteed.  Like many late round draft picks and UDFA, he probably has a "split contract" clause in his contract that lets the team pay him less while he's on IR,  typically something like a 45% pay cut.  So instead of $568k he'll get $312k.  Total for year, $597.  

 

There are still a lot of young people who would like $600k for a year's work, plus medical and life insurance.  The problem, as you say, is that these kids had to be pretty single-minded about pursuing their dreams to get here.  So it's very difficult to pivot.

[gonzo1105]

He looked like he had a hell of a lot of potential. Let’s hope with time, rest, and rehabilitation he can continue playing the game. If not at least he can say he got to be drafted, played on the league, and got to start a game 

[GunnerBill]

11 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Wasn't the guy a 5th round pick?  How much of a bonus did he get?  And I doubt his contract is guaranteed.  That's not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of how much it costs to live in this era.

 

The money isn't nearly as big as having your dream cut short almost before it started.  That sucks.  

 

 

 

6th round. First pick of the 6th I believe which was considered a significant slide for a guy who was anticipated as a late day 2 / early day 3 prospect. Does make you wonder now whether there were something on his combine medicals that factored into that slide and maybe that was related to the neck.

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

 

He got a signing bonus of $285.356 and that's all that was guaranteed.  Like many late round draft picks and UDFA, he probably has a "split contract" clause in his contract that lets the team pay him less while he's on IR,  typically something like a 45% pay cut.  So instead of $568k he'll get $312k.  Total for year, $597.  

 

There are still a lot of young people who would like $600k for a year's work, plus medical and life insurance.  The problem, as you say, is that these kids had to be pretty single-minded about pursuing their dreams to get here.  So it's very difficult to pivot.

I am sure he probably also spent $100K of that for a Injury Insurance that could be significant (meaning much more than the 600K)

[Buffalo716]

18 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

6th round. First pick of the 6th I believe which was considered a significant slide for a guy who was anticipated as a late day 2 / early day 3 prospect. Does make you wonder now whether there were something on his combine medicals that factored into that slide and maybe that was related to the neck.

Cornerback also has the highest percentage of head injuries of any position 

 

Might as well basically include neck in the head 

 

These guys are running faster than anyone on the field and running into guys all the time... Constant whiplash 10 car crashes a game 

 

Lineman do the same thing but it's a smaller distance.. defensive backs and corners in particular play with a speed and then when they have to get physical are well undersized to most of the people they're going against 

 

Concussions highest rate is at corner.. I bet neck injuries aren't far behind

[BillsFanForever19]

34 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

6th round. First pick of the 6th I believe which was considered a significant slide for a guy who was anticipated as a late day 2 / early day 3 prospect. Does make you wonder now whether there were something on his combine medicals that factored into that slide and maybe that was related to the neck.

 

Maybe? I just remember hearing his fall was in part due to that he was considered a Zone Specific CB Prospect. Which made him great for us, but not for everyone. 

[GunnerBill]

41 minutes ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Maybe? I just remember hearing his fall was in part due to that he was considered a Zone Specific CB Prospect. Which made him great for us, but not for everyone. 

 

Yes, but I'd be surprised if that alone dropped him to the 6th. Normally when a guy slides that far there is some sort of medical or off field flag. 

[Beck Water]

8 hours ago, ganesh said:

I am sure he probably also spent $100K of that for a Injury Insurance that could be significant (meaning much more than the 600K)

 

 I hope so for his sake

[Beck Water]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yes, but I'd be surprised if that alone dropped him to the 6th. Normally when a guy slides that far there is some sort of medical or off field flag. 

 

What are you basing the comment that he "slid" on draft day on?  I did a bit of digging and he wasn't draft profiled on NFL.com that I can find - usually they profile guys that are expected to go in the 1st 4-5 rounds.  A couple profiles I found slotted him as a 5th to 6th round selection.

[JP51]

I mean if he has to retire he gonna need to get a job... but if he walks away with a million he has a 30 year head start on most of america... he will be ok... the lost of the dream and everything he worked so hard for is what really sucks... just heartbreaking for him... from a life perspective he walks away and lives hopefully a long happy healthy and productive life doing something he loves... 

[billsfan89]

33 minutes ago, JP51 said:

I mean if he has to retire he gonna need to get a job... but if he walks away with a million he has a 30 year head start on most of america... he will be ok... the lost of the dream and everything he worked so hard for is what really sucks... just heartbreaking for him... from a life perspective he walks away and lives hopefully a long happy healthy and productive life doing something he loves... 

 

When did this injury occur or was this some sort of condition that just reared its ugly head? I'm hoping that he's able to give it another go at the NFL level but if this is his career that's very unfortunate. Yeah its nice to be in your early 20's with a 6 figure amount in the bank and no student debt but unless this guy has a clear "Plan B" line of work he went to college for that it going to put this young man at quite the cross roads. Hopefully he has some sort of fallback options if this is a career ender.