As much as we all enjoy watching sports, Sunday was a brash reminder of just how quickly everything can change. Louisville and Duke were playing with a trip to the Final Four on the line when the game suddenly was about much more than that. When Kevin Ware jumped up to block a shot, he landed awkwardly and suffered a compound fracture in his leg. As viewers around the country, fans in the stands and fellow players looked as saw his bone sticking out of his leg – there was a collective gasp and nauseous feeling. Several Louisville teammates were said to have vomited on the bench as they watched it happen and others fell to their knees, while many (including Coach Pitino) were holding back tears. Luckily, surgery was successful and Ware is already back home – with their regional trophy in tow. The team rallied as he asked them to win and now they’re headed to Atlanta.

Unfortunately, not all injury stories have happy endings. We still don’t know if Ware will ever play again. Many people, including athletes, are never themselves again after an injury. Eric LeGrand is a perfect example of life changing in a split second when he was paralyzed after a hit on the football field. While not every injury is career-ending, our society has become desensitized at times to how serious these injuries are based on how quickly some athletes are back and also question why it takes some people so long to return to their sport. Adrian Peterson’s comeback from a torn ACL was nothing short of impressive. While he had a great season after coming back earlier than expected, he essentially raised the bar for anyone coming back from a serious injury. When Sidney Crosby was out last season after a concussion, many people mocked how long it took to come back. He was called many things as fans questioned his commitment and strength – yet we are all aware that brain injuries are a serious side effect of sports injuries. Ultimately, each individual needs to come back when they and the doctors agree is best and shouldn’t be rushed since that can increase their odds of getting hurt again.

So where am I going with all this? In the past year, two very popular athletes have suffered major injuries. Before that, each had signed lucrative endorsement deals with Adidas. Once they were injured, Adidas quickly began campaigns with them relative to being back in the game. For those wondering still, I’m talking about Derrick Rose and Robert Griffin III. Before I get into their individual stories, my overall feeling and concern if that both are feeling pressure from Adidas, or at least the commercials about them to hurry back to their sport and keep the revenue coming in from their endorsements.

Derrick Rose tore his ACL last April during the NBA playoffs. As soon as he fell to the court, those familiar with his style of play and/or the injury were immediately concerned that it was in fact his ACL and how that would affect the future career of the young star. What made him an MVP was his ability to cut and drive past defenders – something that will be more difficult with a surgically repaired ligament. A torn ACL is a particularly hard injury for basketball players due to the nature of their sport and the lack of protection they can wear (let alone wear and be effective). However, just 2 months earlier, Rose had signed a “lifetime” contract with Adidas for 14 years and more than 250 million dollars. Ironically, 3 players who wear Adidas suffered torn ACLs that season – this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “its gotta be the shoes.”
In the wake of the injury to their biggest star, Adidas decided to start a campaign centered around Rose’s return to the court. The videos all centered around the twitter hashtag “#thereturn.” In these videos, fans saw Rose working on his recovery – keeping him and the shoes relevant while he couldn’t play, but also put a focus on him getting back on the court. From the moment I saw the commercial, there were two thoughts that came to mind – I liked them showing Rose working hard to come back since it was a concerning injury AND I was shocked that he/they were committing him to returning for the next season given how much rehab would still be needed for that to happen. Speculation of “the return” began in December, something I believe was started by Adidas and not the player or team. Now, as the end of the regular season is in sight, the return of Rose is a daily sports topic. Was he trying to rush back as part of his commitment to Adidas – or were they perhaps trying to push him as part of the marketing campaign? Or, on the flip side, many have began to wonder if Adidas has a say on when Rose returns in relation to a sales push. Will it be for the playoffs? A big name opponent? Maybe not until next season? If this is the case, we can all agree that it won’t be for a game against a non-playoff team.

Ultimately, Rose isn’t going to risk a promising NBA career by coming back before he’s 110 percent. No one should have a problem with that. He’s an exciting player to watch and people would be disappointed to see him come back as a shell of himself. Additionally, the worst news to come out for him was when it was announced that he was medically cleared to play in early March. Personally, I think he should wait until next season to spend more time rehabbing the knee and be as close to MVP form as possible. However, I just wish he would make a decision instead of dragging the story out – but I think that’s exactly what Adidas wants to keep him and their shoes relevant. If they can’t get him to come back this season like they pseudo promised in their advertising, they at least want him to stay in the news to drive sales.

Then, NFL Rookie of the Year, Robert Griffin III (RGIII) tore both is ACL and MCL in the last game of the regular season and needed total reconstruction of his knee. After winning the Heisman Trophy, Adidas announced an endorsement deal with RGIII and ran their first commercial before he was even drafted. The injury is especially concerning since he tore that same ACL in 2009. Still, just over a month after RGIII had major knee surgery, Adidas was at it again with a commercial. This time it was promoting the return of RGIII for week 1. The surgery has a projected recovery time of 6-8 months, meaning that he’ll miss all of the spring workouts and puts training camp, pre-season and the start of the regular season in question.

We have no idea if RGIII is part-bionic man like Adrian Peterson (AP) and will be back in form by September, but Adidas sure seems to think so. Anyone familiar with ACL injuries knows that what AP did was very impressive and much more the exception than the norm. Yet, Adidas has set up RGIII to be a failure if he’s not back wreaking havoc on defenses in week 1 of the NFL Season. With the campaign “all in for week 1,” they are leading people to believe that we will see Griffin back on the field when the season starts. Considering how quickly after surgery this came out, Adidas either knows something that we don’t, or this is a big gamble. Yes, Griffin includes a disclaimer with it that he wants to start in Week 1, but that doesn’t mean he will compromise his career to do so. I agree that he should only come back when he’s ready, especially with the type of player he is who will get hit again often and it would be a shame to see him sidelined more. But, there are also expectations that have been set now with this ad. This is either going to be another commercial that gets fans hopes up to not be true, or we will be witnessing another miraculous comeback if he is indeed all in for week 1.

In general, the thought of a marketing campaign based on rushing athletes back from injuries disgusts me. Kevin Ware should be thankful that he’s an amateur athlete since Louisville has a relationship with Adidas and I can only imagine the marketing campaign they would do with him if they could! Unfortunately, injuries are a part of life (as I type this with a sprained trap muscle), and even more common in the sports world due to the nature of what athletes do. However, no one should dictate how quickly someone rehabs and comes back except for doctors and the injured athletes. Adidas should be ashamed of themselves for exploiting injuries for the sake of sales and commercials and stop setting up those they endorse to come back before they’re ready – or they could see the player’s career end much too quickly!