An Ode to D'Brickashaw Ferguson: Beast and Bodyguard for a Decade
By Jason Lisk
D’Brickashaw Ferguson announced his retirement today, at age 32. He has been the New York Jets’ starting left tackle for a decade. In fact, he has not missed a single game since being drafted 4th overall, one pick behind Vince Young in the 2006 Draft.
Not only has he not missed a game, he has been off the field for only one offensive snap over that span, on an end-of-game play where the linemen were pulled off the field.
Through rain, wind, shine, and butt fumble, Ferguson was on the field. He served in front of Hall of Famer Brett Favre, veteran Chad Pennington, and names like Kellen Clemens and Matt Simms. He came into the league with Nick Mangold, also selected in the first round that year, and the two have been the backbone of the Jets’ line. He was on good teams and not-so-good teams, entertaining ones (intentionally or not) and dreary ones.
We’ve celebrated Peyton Manning’s retirement in grand fashion, but Manning will not lack for attention now and going forward. Ferguson, meanwhile, will not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He will join so many others who had great, solid careers and drift into the fabric of the sport.
He is getting out before he gets got. Ten years is a long time to play every game. The Jets asked him to take a pay cut this offseason, and who knows how long he would have remained even if he didn’t retire? He made it longer than most first round picks last in this sport.
Here’s a list of the guys, via pro-football-reference.com search, who played every game of their career, for a decade or more, since 1978.
There’s a few Hall of Famers on that list, but it’s mostly guys who toiled, provided “veteran presence” and were reliable. It’s full of linemen and linebackers.
This December, Ferguson wrote a guest column for Sports Illustrated, talking about seeing the movie “Concussion.”
"As I’ve come to find out, it isn’t just the large collisions that can be problematic, but rather the smaller collisions that don’t even amount to concussions but happen far more frequently, that are the real catalysts leading to CTE. Mike Webster was believed to have participated in about 25,000 violent collisions. After learning all of this, I feel a bit betrayed by the people or committees put in place by the league who did not have my best interests at heart. Dr. Elliot Pellman was one of the Jets’ team doctors when I was a rookie in 2006, and to learn that he was a part of the group that tried to discredit the scope and impact of brain injuries among players within the league is disheartening. "
How much did this play a role in Ferguson retiring now? He isn’t a young player like Chris Borland; he has served his time, and made his money. Sure, he’s walking away from more, but that money has to be earned at a price he is no longer willing to pay in return.
We don’t know what the future holds for the sport, when it comes to concerns over head injuries after retirement. My feeling is that players will choose to retire sooner. It won’t be a full return to a time when top college players chose not to go into the sport professionally, like before World War II, but we may find that there is a limit to how much people should put on their body and brains. Maybe guys who have made their living don’t need to play into the mid-30’s at most positions.
Ferguson will not get a full day of retrospection on ESPN. He wasn’t on your fantasy roster. He didn’t garner page views and attention for off-the-field antics. “I’m a beast,” Ferguson was quoted in an article by D. Orlando Ledbetter before he was drafted. “I see myself as a bodyguard.” He just served, day after day, always on guard. A job well done, and credit to the best of his sport.