Aaron Rodgers. Love him or hate him, you gotta admit that his 4-snap season was pretty unfortunate (but also a little satisfying for us non-Jets fans). Especially in a high-contact sport like football, it is expected that injuries will occur at any time, no matter how early in the season they may be. Sports injuries of this caliber are not uncommon, and they can happen in any sport, not just football. And while they can be devastating, a lot of good can come from them, too. If you’ve been reading my work for a bit, you probably know that I’m an athlete on the cross country and track and field teams here at RWU. But before that, I was an accomplished swimmer. Throughout high school I consistently made it to high-level meets, and outside of that, I qualified for meets with rigorous cuts (shameless flex, I know). However, my bright future in the sport was, I guess you could say, robbed by injury. I learned that I have chronic hypermobility and muscle spasming in my shoulders, making swimming extremely difficult and painful. For over two years I dealt with my condition, whether it be through having to sit out or just putting my head down and biting the bullet.

Then the pandemic hit, and in a bored frenzy, I picked up a new hobby: skateboarding. I was alright, but injury was bound to happen. After tearing my MCL, I was forced to take a temporary break from skateboarding and swimming. During that break, I realized that my shoulder felt better, and that I was happier outside of the pool. After many long nights awake, thinking about my future in the sport, I chose to retire at the end of 2020. Even though I went out on my own terms, I was devastated that pain kept me from my sport, and even more devastated about what I thought was the end of my competitive athletics career.

But the funny thing is, if I’d never hurt my knee, I would’ve never realized how much happier and pain-free I was outside of the pool. The plan was always for me to be a collegiate swimmer, but because of my chronic pain, and then injury, I was able to say “f*ck it, lets try running!” when offered the opportunity. And I’ve found that running makes me happier in a more pure way than swimming ever did.

So although injury can be devastating, especially for an athlete, in my personal opinion, there is always a reason things happen. My injuries allowed me to evaluate, and change the trajectory of my athletic career. Who knows? Maybe during his time off, Aaron Rodgers will find that he has a love for the sport of cricket and leave football altogether! What a shame that would be…