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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Late last year, we at GQ compiled a list of the eighteen dumbest decisions in sports and, if we had to do it all over again, I\u2019m betting that Redskins head tanner Mike Shanahan\u2019s decision to leave a handicapped Robert Griffin III in a playoff game just long enough to have his knee blown apart would rank pretty high on the list. That was one of the saddest things I\u2019ve ever seen in sports, and I say that as someone who used to watch pro wrestling regularly.\n\n Shanahan is getting more than his fair share of shit today for ruining his star player (although there\u2019s an alarming number of idiots\u2014Mark Schlereth chief among them\u2014who seem to have no problem with it). And RG3 himself is getting flak for being too stubborn to realize his own limitations, even though I think it\u2019s foolish to ask that of a pro athlete. Pro athletes are na&amp;amp;#xEF;ve idiots. They think they can play through anything. You could cut a pro athlete\u2019s head off and he\u2019d still beg the trainer to tape it up. You can\u2019t rely on anything they say when it comes to matters of physical harm. You wouldn\u2019t want them pulling up in the face of imminent danger, anyway: Their stupidity is part of what makes them great.\n\n Besides, all of us are complicit in the whole Willis Reed Wet Dream sequence any time a pro athlete tries to play with a visible injury. When I watched RG3 hobble for a nine-yard gain last night, my first thought was ZOMG! HE\u2019S DOING IT! IT\u2019S WILLIS REED ALL OVER AGAIN! HE\u2019S GOT THE HEART OF A LION! Because that would have been awesome. Hell, when I was a kid and fantasized about being a pro athlete, I would throw a broken leg into my daydreams just to up the ante. Everyone WANTS the Willis Reed storyline to become reality in that kind of situation: fans, players, coaches, everyone. I bet Reed\u2019s triumph with a torn thigh muscle back in 1970 is responsible for four million aggravated knee sprains over the past four decades. Frankly, that game has probably done more harm for the sports world than good.\n\n Because the Skins proved yesterday that you can take it way too far. It was one thing for RG3 to attempt to play again after re-injuring his LCL. But once it was clear that he was incapacitated\u2014that he was now throwing the ball with all the accuracy of Joe Webb\u2014any idiot should have known to pull him so that the Skins would have a better chance to win. That\u2019s the line between being heroic and being a moron. You can play injured if you can PLAY. But not if you can\u2019t. And Mike Shanahan spent far too long buying into the idea that the game might somehow become a fairy tale. Look at these quotes from him after the game:\n\nI talked to Robert and he said to me, &amp;quot;Coach, there\u2019s a difference between being injured and being hurt. He said, &amp;quot;I can guarantee I\u2019m hurt right now but give me the chance to win this football game because I guarantee I\u2019m not injured.&amp;quot; That was enough for me. He said to me, &amp;quot;Trust me, I want to be in there and I deserve to be in there.&amp;quot; And I couldn\u2019t disagree with him.\n\n Think about that. Shanahan chose to listen to a pro athlete\u2014and remember, they all lie\u2014and ignore the glaring visual evidence that RG3 couldn\u2019t play for shit. Why would any reasonable man do that? Because Willis Reed, that\u2019s why. What you saw last night was a football coach trying to will a sports clich\u00E9 to life, and possibly submarining his own team\u2019s future in the process. It was not pleasant to watch."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/robert-griffin-iii-rg3-injury-mike-shanahan>