Percy Harvin and migraine headaches
National Football League
Draft King Analysis
January 23, 2010
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
As I write this, the East/West Shrine Game is airing on the TV here in my office room. It's a great opportunity for players who are mid-to-late round picks (or free agent prospects) to potentially boost their draft stock in front of a national audience. One annoyance: players defiling their helmets with stickers from other teams on them. I don't get that at all. It's tough enough to keep track of players with 120 I-A/FBS teams (and standouts from I-AA/FCS, like Northern Iowa's James Ruffin), let alone figure out who is who in a game like this one. Not every player does it, but the ones that do irritate me.
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Percy Harvin suffers from severe migraine headaches. (Icon SMI)
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Two conference championship games are slated for tomorrow, with the Jets playing at the Colts and the Vikings playing at the Saints. I'm excited for it, as are most football fans. As far as it relates to the draft, we'll know who is picking at #29 and who is picking at #30 after tomorrow, with the order going like this: the Jets (9-7) ahead of the Vikings (12-4) ahead of the Saints (13-3) ahead of the Colts (14-2). The Jets can't end up at #30; the Colts can't end up at #29.
It will be interesting to see how Percy Harvin plays (if at all) tomorrow for the Vikings. I suffered from migraine/cluster headaches for 9+ years, and I can assure you first-hand that it is a horrible, debilitating pain. It's difficult to put into words how horrible they can be. My best effort: imagine pulsating waves of pain striking one side of your head, one wave after another after another of excruciating torturous blasts. The intensity grows as the attack progresses. As if that's not bad enough, light and noise usually exacerbates the pain.
Expensive prescription medicine works for some people (Imitrex worked for me), but you're looking at an hour minimum from the time you take the high-priced pill for it to kick in. You don't know when the attack might strike you, adding psychological torment on top of the horrible physical pain. I couldn't imagine being an NFL athlete and deal with that torture.
For me, I found relief for my horrible headaches via a fantastic chiropractor. Unfortunately, that's not the answer for everyone, but I assure you that migraine headaches are a severe problem for people who are tormented by them. The word late tonight is that Harvin's migraine problems have subsided and that he's expected to play tomorrow. Good luck to him with that.
There's an overwhelming wave of support that continues for Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh being the #1 overall pick in the draft. I addressed it in my last column, but go ahead and lock it in that Suh will be in the top position when I redo the Draft King 2010 NFL Mock Draft either late tomorrow night or (more likely) early next week. At this point, even if the Rams receive a tempting offer to trade down from #1, it will be very difficult for the franchise to pass up Suh based on not only public sentiment, but also the criticism that could very well come from the media pundits for making such a move.
What I will be deliberating tonight and tomorrow during commercial breaks: if it goes Suh #1, Gerald McCoy #2, and Eric Berry #3, which quarterback would the Redskins be more likely to take at #4 if they opt to go with that position: Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen or Oklahoma's Sam Bradford? Bradford-to-Washington seemed simple enough if Clausen is off the board, but if he's not then it would be most interesting to see what Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen would do.
