The Athletic spoke with Atlanta Falcons tackle Kaleb McGary about the physical toll a season takes. McGary, a first-round selection in 2019 who had the finest season of his four-year career, has participated in every offensive play for the Falcons this year.

Walking is difficult this time of year, McGary remarked. “I think it’s easy for people to forget on the outside what a toll this sport takes, even though we joke about it and stuff. The physical and psychological toll that eighteen weeks of nonstop, intense pounding will have on your body cannot be lessened by any amount of ice. There is simply no getting around it. Man, it’s just an ugly aspect of the game. We make an effort to ignore it.”

“It’s a thing that if you dwell on too much, it’s easy to get down about, it’s easy to get depressed about, and I think it makes you more likely to get hurt,” McGary stated. “Someone is going to run into you and you’re going to get hurt if you’re standing there worrying about getting hurt. Playing slowly increases your risk of injury more than playing quickly.”

In addition, he discussed if it is now more difficult to overlook the dangers of playing football in light of Hamlin’s injury.

Shocking events are frequently necessary to upend a system, and Hamlin’s injury did just that. And if one hasn’t already, the system might be getting a wake-up call very soon.