Setting Off Fireworks

July 4^th came and went, and with it a special brand of nuttiness this year.

A young man in Maine died after setting off a firework from his head. A man in Texas died after setting off a firework from his chest. And two NFL players put their health and careers in jeopardy with injuries from lighting fireworks.

New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was in surgery on Wednesday night, reportedly having his right index finger amputated. He is also said to have burned the flesh off part of his hand and fractures of the thumb.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback C.J. Wilson was reported to have lost the index and middle fingers of one hand when a canister full of fireworks exploded.

We can’t expect football players to be any smarter than the public at large, but we do figure they know that every risk they take endangers millions of dollars and their very livelihood. On the other hand (so to speak), they take risks every day in their profession and put their bodies on the line with every snap of the football, so danger might not occur to them.

Pierre-Paul is in a particularly tenuous situation. He is a free agent who, since this injury, saw a $60 million contract with the Giants be withdrawn. He did not cooperate with Giants personnel who came to see him in the hospital.

Wilson made the Chicago Bears roster as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and played for the Bucs last year. Not long ago, he told his hometown newspaper, the Lincoln (N.C.) Times News the following: “That’s been my life story — you’ve got to grind to get to where you need to be, and right now I’m grinding, I’m scrapping, I’m scratching to get to the top.”

He’ll have to do that scrapping and scratching with two fewer fingers, a serious handicap in the profession he chose. Assuming he still can work in that profession.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .