Jim Souhan: Ignoring searing pain part of the NFL

Pop quiz: When Jared Allen took pain-killing injections and strapped on a harness to protect his severely sprained right shoulder so he could play against the Packers last week, his teammates thought:

A) Allen deserved to be mentioned with the bravest heroes in NFL history.

B) Allen set a new standard in the Vikings locker room for playing with pain.

C) It was a Sunday. What else was he going to do?

The answer, strangely enough, is C.

In any other walk of life, even in most other sports, playing a collision sport with a severely separated shoulder would earn some kind of medal. In an NFL locker room, players are so accustomed to playing with pain that they don't even feel obligated to offer praise.

The Vikings appreciated Allen's pain threshold. They just didn't consider it unusual.

"We're gladiators. We run into guys full speed who weigh 350 pounds or more, every play. That's just us. We've been playing this game since we were little kids. Even when you're little, you get banged up, you still go out there and play, even though you're not getting paid for it. It's just our heart for the game."

Doctors compare football collisions to car wrecks, so locker rooms on a Monday can resemble a body shop.

"Most of the guys in here, if they can go, they'll go," center Matt Birk said. "That's the culture of the game, and of the team. I think that's how it is most places. I think that's how it's been, most teams I've been on. But certainly you expect the leaders and the stars of the team, guys like Jared, to do that. Not only to play hurt, but to play well."

Receiver Bobby Wade praised Allen, then said, "It's like that on every ballclub, but obviously when it gets put out there in the media, everybody knows he's injured, and the caliber of player he is, it pumps it up a little bit more.

"But a lot of people are playing injured. And we appreciate that, because that's the only way you can win."

"It's very frequent," he said. "Very, very, very frequent. You've got guys who play with torn meniscus in their knees, guys whose shoulders sublux and pop out and pop back in. You're getting hurt midseason, you're wearing braces, just to fight for your team. That's what you need, though. The morale of your team revolves around that, having guys willing to play every Sunday.

"You've got some guys who lay down, looking for a reason not to play, but I haven't seen that in this locker room."

Allen said he grew up idolizing players who competed despite injuries. Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood played despite a broken leg.

"I always think I can play," Allen said. "If my leg is broken, I figure I can go.

"Everybody plays hurt. If Jack Youngblood can play with a broken leg ....."

"You hear stories like that all the time," Allen said. "That's inspiring. That's why football's cool."

Has he ever told a teammate not to play hurt?

"No," Allen said. "Well, wait. [Former Chiefs defensive end] Eric Hicks had a bad shoulder, he ended up having reconstructive surgery on it, and he toughed it out for three or four weeks my second year in the league. That was probably the closest I ever came to telling a guy, 'Man, you might want to chill out a little bit.'

"But he taped his arm up and played. That was pretty cool to see."

Cool, but not unusual, not in the NFL.