Ronnie Lott says Jason Pierre Paul will experience some pain from losing his finger
Ronnie Lott the Hall of Fame safety from the San Francisco 49ers joined The Rich Eisen Show recently to discuss the challenges that Jason Pierre Paul will experience from the amputation of his finger. Lott would know what it is like, because he had his finger amputated to continue playing in a football game. Lott says he will be in a lot of pain, but it will accelerate the healing process.
“He’s going to be in a lot of pain. … There is pain and there is pain,” Lott said, via NJ.com. “Anytime you hurt around the foot or the hand, the pain is much different. For him, the pain of going through the amputation, the pain of having it numb or having it become un-numb and the fact that when you go through all of that, there is the pain. And then the pain of learning how to play with it, not to play with it, the things you can do, the pains of struggling with it. All those pains to me are the things that make it challenging. (The pain) is the one thing I think he’ll struggle with,” Lott said. “The other thing for him, he’ll be able to play with it and deal with it, but the moment of not seeing it, the moment of looking at your hand and looking down and realizing and you have that phantom where you see your finger and don’t see it.
“There are a lot of things emotionally that he’ll have to deal with and he’ll have to learn and understand it’s not there and will play tricks on his mind.”
Lott understands that fighting off offensive lineman is a lot more strenuous than playing safety, but feels JPP will bounce back.
“It will get better,” he said. “You will be able to function. Don’t lose your spirit and understand that is not going to impede your greatness. If anything, it’s going to enhance your greatness and you’ll find yourself competing at a high level.
“In his case, he’ll be another one realizing that with 9.5 or 9 fingers, he can still go to the Pro Bowl.”
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