Grisly details have emerged around the concussion suffered by the Lions' Tony Scheffler in Detroit's 24-13 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
After a violent third-quarter hit by Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, Scheffler was rushed by ambulance to Henry Ford Hospital and examined for bleeding on his brain, according to the tight end's former Denver Broncos teammate Nate Jackson, who wrote about the incident for Deadspin.com.
No bleeding was detected, but Scheffler "had some tingling down the right side of his body, and he vomited several times," according to Jackson, who played receiver for the Broncos from 2003-08.
"The Lions' head trainer sits outside Tony's (hospital) room, regarding me suspiciously as I ask about my friend," Jackson wrote. "He hesitates to explain their protocol. Tony is their property, his look seems to say. He softens a little when I tell him I played with Tony in Denver. He asks me what I do now. I tell him I'm writing a book about what the NFL is really like, you know, what it's really like. This is what it's really like, isn't it? He stiffens up again."
Jackson's peek behind the curtain explores a side of the game we don't often hear about and certainly don't see on polished television broadcasts.
Scheffler has been ruled out for the undefeated Lions' high-profile tilt against the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
