Arian Foster "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have played football" - The Joe Rogan Experience

Hello freak bitches. Well you definitely do to play NFL. There's no doubt about that. I mean when you're staring down a team of super athletes and you're just gonna collide with each other or try to get across lines just a totally different way of living your life than 99% of the world. I tell people I've had 14 surgeries in my career. Jesus Christ. It's just crazy. It's normal to me and it's normal to people that are playing the league. Like after the season usually everybody gets a surgery of something that's been by their point. What have you had done? I've had meniscus several times. I've had Achilles back, my pinky, my shoulder. I actually played all of my 2010 season with the broken collarbone. Jesus Christ. Yeah I did that game three and it's still broke. You can still feel it. With a broken collarbone? How did you do that? Mind over matter man. At that time I went on drafter right? I had just got my shot to start and it was game three and I was having a really good season. It was either like in the NFL if you're not already paid your position is up for grabs. So it's either you push through it or somebody gonna take your spot. That was my time to shine so I was like painkillers man. So could you feel it moving around? It was weird. How to protect it? My brother-in-law has like a metal piece there. He lost his in a BMX accident. They put like a titanium rod. I think I need that man. Because right now it's dipped in. You can feel it. It's like dipped in. Did you ever like get it looked at? No because I didn't want him to know I was hurt. Because they bring that shit up during when you're negotiating your contract. I was like oh he missed this because he was hurt and they bring that. They use it as leverage against you. So 2012 was when I signed my contract. The day after I was like you guys want to let you know I broke my collarbone two years ago. And they're like no way. They're like no way. So I was like get an X-ray. And so we got an X-ray. It was like holy shit you did. I would be impressed. I'd be like that's a guy I want on my team. This fucking dude played with a broken collarbone. It's bittersweet right? So like as soon as you tell him that's what happened. Then it's like oh well he gets injured. Like it's a weird. What he's human? Who the fuck doesn't get injured playing in an NFL? I mean you would think that's the rational way to go about it. Do you know anybody who's played pro football didn't get injured? I mean how is it impossible? I don't feel like it's possible. I haven't seen anybody. I watched the Super Bowl and one of the things that I was thinking was like okay you're watching all these dudes run and collide with each other. And watching all these tackles and like I was trying to stockpile. I was like in my head I was like how many injuries am I watching here? Because a lot of times dudes will walk off and then later that night they'll be like oh man my fucking back is killing me. And then you get a diagnosed and there's some sort of a bulging disc or something. The problem I had because most of my issues that that kept me off the field were like soft tissue injuries which I can't run with. My hamstring won't give but like all the rest of my stuff. My problem became like my pain my tolerance for pain my threshold it became so high that like I don't even know what hurt and what was normal. So like I'm still kind of dealing with a lot of those aches and pains and stuff now but it's like you just pushed through it because the pain was normal. You just get accustomed to it. Yeah you just pain becomes a part of life. Wow. Did you always know that like when you were when you I'm sure you played in high school and you played in college. Did you always know that this was eventually going to lead to like a point where your body just wasn't going to be able to do it anymore? I mean. Did you think about that? You say you say that right. And people tell you about it but you know they say ignorance is bliss. Like you don't know it's it's it actually affects you until it actually affects you. And so like you're like one of the worst games I've ever been a part of was we were playing Chicago in 2012 I think. And it was raining. And so they just run in the ball the whole game. And the next day I woke up like I'm limping like walking towards the bathroom like I couldn't it took me about five minutes in my bathroom was like right there. So it took like five minutes. I was like literally like limping. My body was just beat up. What's the painkillers were off from the game. And like when you're going when you're going through it you don't really realize it. But like towards the end of my career that's kind of why I decided to walk away because I was like is it worth it anymore. You know I'm relatively healthy. I could walk. I could walk. You know who knows what I've done to my brain. You know that the onset of that comes on years later. But after a while it was just it just stopped being worth it to me anymore. Plus I kind of just fell out of love with it. That's a weird place to be right. Yeah. Now when you when you're saying like you don't know what's going on with your brain. Do you notice anything now. Not nothing that I haven't. I mean I've definitely had concussions before and earlier on like the C.T. stuff kind of. That was like like the product 2013 14 is when the science really started and the news media really started talking about it. But growing up like it was kind of just called a dinger. Like you just got done. You know you got dinged and no one worried about the consequences. So we didn't really know. So it was just it was just part of it was part of it. I've definitely had concussions before where you like not really sure where you are. But like somehow your subconscious knows what to do when you play. Wow. Yes. Weird man. So you're out of it because you got cracked and you're just kind of going through the game anyway. Keep playing. Do you remember it afterwards. Parts. Parts. That's that happens a lot to fighters. Like they'll get dropped in the first round and then they'll be on their corner in the like the fourth round like headed into the fifth. And they'll think it's the second round. And then the coach will go hey man you fought three more rounds. And you think you did. They're like what. Yeah. It's crazy. This is the second round right. No it's the last round. What the fuck are you talking about. And it's crazy. It's amazing to me that people are able to function on such a high level. Not really conscious of what's going on. That's got to be your training. Yes. So that's all training is is you're training your body to become second nature. So now when you were in high school and you were in college was there any talk at all about brain damage. Was there any talk about CTE or the not really. Nobody worried about it. No it was just not. It wasn't. It wasn't the science wasn't complete. I'm pretty sure there were there were neuroscientists saying like your brain damage is real. But the science wasn't as definitive as it is now. Right. But no one connected it the way they did with boxing. Not to us. Not to me. You know like like now people are worrisome about putting their kids in youth leagues and stuff. And they're even talking about not letting youth leagues happen. I have tackle football at all which I'm an advocate for. I don't think there's there's no point for it. Like my kid my sons are not going to play football. No. No. Wow that's crazy. You made up my body so they can have a free ride whatever they want to do. What if they want to play football. I'm going to say sit down man. You got trust for man relax. What if they want to be their own man. You know there's not I'm not going to physically stop him. I'm at pike could but I would I would I would seriously sit him down and and let him know the consequences showing people and show him the risk factors involved. Like it is not worth it. I know you want to and I mean as much as a son wants to walk in his father's shoes it's just not worth it man. Right. It's really not and you're probably not going to be as good. That's just how. What if you kid wanted to fight like a box like box. Yeah box or kick box or I mean I wouldn't advocate that either. You wouldn't let them do that. I'm pushing them to go towards like education. I want them to be scientists. Like if I had to do it over again I wouldn't have never played football. Really. Yeah. I'd be a scientist. Not even you would start from the beginning. Like if you could go back to college knowing what you know now. Wow. Not even close. And just because the damage to your body. Well that and so it's a weird. It's a weird thing. So like you're you're in your prime physically as a man but you're in your infancy mentally. Right. Right. And so like I'm just now figuring out who I am and what kind of man I want to be. And you're you're while you're in your prime that's when you're in the public eye. So you have to deal with all of that on top of figure. So you're figuring out who you are in a fishbowl. And it's a really weird really weird thing. So I don't even want to do like any kind of record. Recognization or any kind of fame or whatever people want to call it. I don't I don't like it. I don't want it. I feel like the best to me that the best society would be artists and scientists. That would be an ideal society to me. Wow. That's an interesting take on considering how successful you've been playing football. I mean playing football obviously was very financially rewarding to you made you famous. For sure. I mean if just some regular dude went on Twitter and started talking about I could take a wolf one or one. Nobody would care. Nobody would care. They'd be like shut up stupid. I doubt anybody cares anyway. But it's all people care. Fucking my Twitter exploded when I said you were coming on. You better school him. You better tell him about wolves man. My uncle shot a wolf man. It was going to kill his whole family.