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Perspective belongs to eye of beholder
Why do they do it?
Is the reward really worth such a risk? Are the competitive fires so unquenchable that the players will strap on helmets and pads and attack knowing full well that there's a chance they could end up as Maddox did on Sunday afternoon at The Coliseum?
"When a life is on the line like that to the point where it's taking him to open his eyes to see that he's OK, and he's laying there on his face and can't move, I mean, that's serious," Kordell Stewart said. "That's scary.
"I tried to, as if my words are going to mean anything, but I was like, 'Tommy, this is Stew, baby; you all right?' And was moving his eyes around … to see a guy walking around just four hours ago, but laying there in a situation like that, it's tough."
But not tough enough to stop the show from going on, as it inevitably does.
Once they packed Maddox into an ambulance and rushed him to Baptist Hospital, the whistle blew, the ball was snapped and the collisions such as the one that temporarily paralyzed Maddox commenced again.
The thoughts and prayers of players on both sides remained with the Steelers' fallen quarterback, but to a man everyone continued to do his job. They did so because that's what was expected of them and they did so because that's what they demanded of themselves.
"If you were to think, in any profession, that if something tragic were to happen it would wind up looking that way, you think we would do it? Heck no. We wouldn't play. We wouldn't want to play," Stewart said. "But because, for the most part, you know athletes are daredevils, you know they're competitors, you want to go out and play. That's the nature of the beast, of the game.
"Things like that happen. The next guy just has to be prepared. It sounds cold, but that's the business, that's the way it is."
That's the way it's always been.
In the wake of such near tragedies, everyone talks of how they "put the game in perspective," but in actuality nothing could be further from the truth.
If they truly did, no one would play, as Stewart suggested.
Thankfully, the word on Maddox, as delivered by the Steelers, was encouraging as of last night. He had feeling in all of his extremities, was said to be awake and alert and talking to his family, and was scheduled to return home today.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher and running back Eddie George showed up at Baptist Hospital. Linebacker Keith Bulluck, the player who landed atop Maddox and crunched his head awkwardly into the turf, phoned.
But even if the prognosis hadn't been as encouraging, life as the NFL knows it would have gone on.
The Steelers demonstrated that even before they knew if their quarterback would be able to walk again, let alone when and if he would play again, by rallying for 16 fourth-quarter points. No one personified this collective resolve better than wide receiver Hines Ward, who absorbed a vicious lick from Titans safety Lance Schulters at the business end of a 27-yard completion from Stewart just inside the two-minute warning. The crowd reacted in audible amazement at the force of Schulters' blow, which staggered Ward but failed to get him onto the ground.
Following a Stewart spike to stop the clock on first-and-goal from the Tennessee 4-yard line, it was Schulters limping off the field holding his shoulder and backup Aric Morris running on.
The next guy has to be prepared.
"It's tough," Steelers tight end Mark Bruener said. "That's the only thing that was going through my mind, the condition of Tommy. It's extremely tough.
It could be anybody. I was scared to death when I saw him lying on the field. I've never experienced anything like that in my life. I don't know how to describe it."
He probably doesn't want to and wouldn't heed his own advice if he could.
"We're definitely going to move on," strong safety Lee Flowers said. "We have no choice.
"It's a dangerous game, man. We're going to stay strong and pray for him and his family and keep moving on. That's the only thing we can do."
