The NFL typically saves its surprises for game days, when a player’s week of planning and studying is put to the test. But when the game ends, the routine from locker room to locker room typically is the same.
Ice up. Get checked out. Rest up — a little — before preparing for another beating the next week.
There is no mystery behind the ailments, the concussions, the potential for chronic traumatic encephalopathy and the many other life-altering and life-shortening injuries that come with the game. Football is brutal — maybe less so with rule changes, but still brutal.