On July 4th every year in the United States we celebrate Independence day. This is the anniversary of the day the United States declared independence from Britain and signed the declaration of independence in 1776. BBQs and fireworks are commonplace on this day and serve as symbols for the holiday.
The 4th of July is during the offseason for NFL players. This is a holiday that they can share with their family without missing any important games or practices. The SB article listed below talks about the tragedy that happened nine years ago on independence day. Former Tennessee Titan Quarterback Steve Mcnair was murdered by Sahel Kazemi before she decided to take her own life. Kazemi was having an affair with Steve who was married to another woman at the time. As mentioned in the article, Mcnair's mother does not believe that he will be remembered for cheating on his wife more than he should be remembered for his football career. Steve's career was not the greatest among the quarterbacks of his era but he will always be remembered for dying at the young age of 36 only 2 years out of retirement from the league.
According the the SB Nation article, July 4th is the most dangerous holiday of the year. This is certainly because of the fireworks that are lit to celebrate. Jason Pierre Paul knows this better than most. The current NFL defensive end was lighting fireworks in 2015 when one had gone off and severely burned his right hand. The gruesome injury is pictured in the sports illustrated article below.
Jason was almost certain that this injury would ruin his career. One doctor told him that he would most likely never play football again. As stated in the article, Jason told his doctors to not cut off his hand no matter what. He was confident that no matter how bad his injury was that he was talented enough to play without all of his fingers.
Before every game in the 2015 season he looked at his hospital wristband to remind himself how lucky he was to still be able to play the game he loved and that he did not get more hurt than he did. The funny part about that wristband is that it does not bare the name you would have thought. The Sports Illustrated article explains that Jason Pierre Paul wanted to avoid attention and did not want the media aware of his incident, so he was entered into the hospital as "Don X".
The 4th of July is a time of celebration but NFL fans will always remember the events that happened on this day for the late Steve McNair and the current NFL lineman Jason Pierre Paul. The 4th of July will always be celebrated by fireworks but now fans hope that these players have learned from Jason Pierre Paul's mistakes.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/04/12/jason-pierre-paul-giants-fireworks-destroyed-hand-exclusive
https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2018/7/3/17531634/steve-mcnair-murder-nfl-fourth-of-july
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