(AUDACY) One of the harsh realities of an NFL career is that your post-playing days are likely going to be filled with aches and pains after performing a job that puts participants under the utmost physical duress, day after day after day.
For his part, former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler feels healthy in terms of those physical issues, sharing that he's not hurting too badly after the hosts of the Pardon My Take podcast of Barstool Sports asked if he's doing well.
"Yeah, I didn't have any knee problems, anything with hips, I had shoulder surgery," Cutler said (h/t Brandon Contes of Mediaite). "So physically, I think I feel good. I've lost weight."
Unfortunately, the toll that football takes on the body goes well beyond one's current physical well-being, and that isn't anything that should surprise anyone. It's not only muscle aches, knee problems and day-to-day pain management that former NFL players struggle with. There's a much darker, more serious subject that has been a focal point of the league for a while now and that has continually served as a problem area: concussions and the potential to develop CTE and other neurological issues. Take former NFL tight end Jordan Reed, for instance, who decided to call it quits after the 2020 season after a lengthy concussion history.
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Cutler admitted he's already starting to feel the effects of blows to the head throughout his playing days and, even scarier, he's just waiting for CTE to emerge.
"I would say memory and stuff like that," Cutler said, continuing his answer regarding his health status. "CTE is coming at some point ... without a doubt."
Cutler went on to explain that throughout his whole football career, dating back to high school, he has suffered a double-digit number of concussions, using 15 as an estimate. And though he's doing all he can to prevent the onset of health troubles, including an NAD IV therapy treatment and a healthier diet, he still feels as though it's coming. Of all the concussions he's suffered, a couple stand out.
"The Texans one was bad," Cutler said before remembering another. "I think we were playing Washington and I got — it was a DB, I forgot who it was — and I just got slung around. He just slung me around and threw me down and the side of my head hit and that's one of the only times I was out out. I was out for a second, then got up and walked off.
"I don't know. I think if you play long enough, it's gonna happen to you."
Cutler played in the NFL from 2006-'17, including for the Bears from 2009 to 2016. He suffered a concussion in 2017 with the Miami Dolphins, which was at least his third in the past seven seasons, though several players have said that there are more concussions that go undocumented.
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