Merril Hoge believes that a doctor's poor judgment led to more than just the end of his NFL career. The former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, who is now an ESPN personality, recently discussed his injury with TMZ Live, while also speaking on Jalen Hurts recent injury scare. Hurts was recently ruled out for the season due to blood clots.
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According to Merril, who retired from the NFL back in 1994, he received some awful medical advice during his time in the NFL. During the conversation, Merril recalled a concussion he suffered when playing for the Chicago Bears during a Monday Night Football game.
"He says a team doctor cleared him to play just five days after the injury ... without ever examining him in person. Instead, he claims the doctor asked him one question over the phone: 'How do you feel?'" TMZ reports.
Roughly six weeks later, Hoge suffered another concussion during a game against the Buffalo Bills. He then went into cardiac arrest, had to be resuscitated, and spent two days in intensive care.
"I saw my life over at age 30 ... it wrecked my life," Merril said.
It's important to note that Merril isn't accusing the Eagles of intentionally putting Hurts in jeopardy. However, he does want more transparency regarding the medical decisions team doctors make for players. Especially when their reasoning hasn't been made public, per TMZ.
Merril Hoge Had an Impressive NFL Career
Hoge entered the NFL as the 261st pick in the 1987 draft, having been selected by the Steelers. He spent seven of his eight years in the league with Pittsburgh, playing in 109 regular-season games for the franchise. His final year in the league came with the Bears. That was also the season when he suffered the concussion he spoke about.
For his career, Hoge amassed 3139 rushing yards, scoring 21 touchdowns. He earned a total of 187 first downs, too.
Hoge only played in five games for the Bears during his final season.
As such, Hoge is speaking from experience when he discusses the need for clarity on team medical decisions. Of course, players will likely be reluctant for even more personal information to be released into the public sphere. After all, health issues are extremely personal, football-related or not.
