Life got a little crazy for the Hale’s last week. It was an emotional roller coaster with many highs and low that I thought was never going to end. The good news is that we made it out alive, and I think we are stronger for it! We really had to come together as a couple and make some tough decisions.
As I said in my previous post, the Ravens decided to IR Dave for the season which meant he had an injury and would not play for the entire year. Even though it was disappointing to be put on the list, I think we felt in the long run it would be for the better. It would allow Dave to heal and we would still get his salary. Furthermore, it meant that we were still apart of the Ravens and technically on the roster.
Little did we know that the Ravens were brewing up something that would totally change everything. Per NFL rules, once you place a player on IR, you then have 5 days to do an injury settlement with them, if the organizations wishes to due so. Injury settlements are often used with injuries that maybe aren’t season ending or as serious as other injuries. Teams use injury settlements to clear out roster space. The way an injury settlement works is that a player is paid their regular weekly salary for however many weeks a team thinks it will take them to heal. The catch is that the player is immediately released from the team though.
Most teams are upfront and will communicate to a player if they are going to be presented an injury settlement. Not the Ravens. Instead, for a week Dave and I had to piece together clues to this big puzzle and eventually figure out on our own that the Ravens were going to do this.
To make matters worse, some really shady and disappointing things occurred with the medical staff that made it clear to us that they did not have Dave’s best interest in mind and that they were trying to downplay his injury. (Less recovery time = less $$$…..follow me?) Anyway, luckily the NFL grants each player the right to a 2nd opinion…so that’s just what we did! We saw a spine specialist at THE John Hopkins who saw a ruptured S1 disc that no other doctor associated with the Ravens saw….weird. So, due to the findings of our 2nd opinion Dr. we were able to lobby for a 9 week settlement rather than the typical 4-5 weeks. I saw “we”…but really I mean our amazing agent…Mr. Ken Vierra. Ken did a wonderful job for us and really earned his 3% this week.
So…what does all this mean and where do we go from here? Well it means that Dave is officially released from the Ravens as of Monday but can sign with another team as soon as he is healthy. We have decided to sell our house and basically all the furniture in it (more on that to come). Also, we decided that it would be best for Dave to live with my family in Colorado Springs, CO so that he can heal and get treatment from my Dad. He is driving and left this morning :-(. I am going to stay here in MD while we try to sell our house. Also, right before this all happened I got two great nannying jobs so I will be doing that as well. It means that once again we will be living 2000 miles apart, but hopefully I will take a few trips back to COS to see him to make this time a little easier to deal with. We decided that we are going to make Colorado Springs, CO our home base for the remainder of Dave’s NFL career and then just rent wherever he ends up playing. That way, we were always have a home to go home to no matter what happens with the NFL. We both feel like that is “home” and we really love it there. It will be so nice living near family that can help us if we need it.
Hopefully this helped clear up and rumors or misguided information. I know lots of people have been calling and text Dave wanting to know what was going on. I should have maybe gotten this post up a littler earlier to help alleviate that, but better late then never. The good news is that several other team have already expressed interest in Dave! I am so proud of Dave for how hard he has worked on getting better and I know he will continue to push through. Trust me, if there is anyone who knows about how hard it is to recover from an injury…it is yours truly.
Thanks for all your prayers and positive thoughts!
3 comments:
Hard times! So glad you have each other. I know both you and Dave will land on your feet. We love you both and support you in all you do. If you need anything at all please let us know and we will help.
Hi Shelby! I am really sorry to hear that Dave is injured and has been released from the Ravens. Andy and I were planning on going down to a Ravens game this fall sometime. Now we probably won't. We live about 45 minutes away. You positivity is really refreshing and you should never change that. Keep us posted on the recovery and whatever new stuff comes your way. We will be thinking about you.
Well said Shelby. Hmmm COS is only a 12 hour trip from PHX. I can't wait to see where he ends up. Your house will sell like a champ because of all the cute work you did to it. You will shine being in MD by yourself because your anal retentive OCD will work to your advantage. Your house will be immaculate and you'll get all the things done in order to get you and Dave back together. The time will fly then before you know it you'll be soaking up the cool breeze and mountain fresh air in COS.
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