Tragically, horrible injuries are a part of the NFL lifestyle and landscape.
But that doesn't make the tales any less frightening.
"I was paralyzed for three hours, and then I played two weeks later," said Derek Wolfe, the former Baltimore Ravens defensive end. "It was miserable.''
Wolfe, a Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos, recently made an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience to detail his NFL life, and he revealed that he was temporarily paralyzed "from the nose down" during a preseason game in 2013.
Wolfe testified that as a result of the contact, he was made to feel numb everywhere in the aftermath for the next three hours.
Thankfully, Wolfe was fortunate enough to avoid permanent paralysis ... and not only that, he was deemed healthy enough to return to the playing field in just a few weeks after the incident.
Wolfe ended up playing in the NFL for almost a decade before retiring in 2022 following a hip injury. He retired with 34 sacks and was a good player in Baltimore ... and then a pivotal contributor to the Broncos' win in Super Bowl 50.
But while the specific pain from that incident is gone, the memory lingers ...
Every time I got touched, my arms would go numb. And I'm a defensive lineman, so my head's getting hit every play …"
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