There may be no more fruitless, disturbing two words assigned to the beginning of a thought or sentence than “What if.’’ What comes next, far too often, is a descent into wistfulness or regret.
This Fourth of July, it is impossible not to dangle the “What if’’ scenario in front of the events of exactly one year ago down in South Florida, where Jason Pierre-Paul held an M-1000 firecracker — think small stick of dynamite as a visual — in his right hand, a split second too long. What had been a holiday tradition — JPP celebrating Independence Day with a pyrotechnic show for his family and the neighborhood — took an ugly turn, ending up with the amputation of his right index finger, the loss of more than half his right thumb and right middle finger and permanent disfigurement of a right hand that looks grotesque and is marginally functional.
What if JPP, nearing the end of the festivities, had not decided to light one more? What if he lit and tossed the explosive without incident? His life, his bank account, his football career and identity would be dramatically different.
In 25 days, Pierre-Paul arrives for his seventh season and sixth training camp with the Giants, having missed last year’s reporting date while checking in and out of hospitals, dealing with horrible burns and painful surgeries. In many ways, this is season and training camp No. 1 for JPP, the start of a new chapter that likely will shape whatever time he has left in football. He is a 27-year old defensive end who should be entering the prime of his career. Instead, he braces for an untraveled journey, as there is no real precedent of making a living shedding blocks, sacking quarterbacks and dropping running backs with a hand so damaged.
“I will never be completely back to normal,’’ Pierre-Paul conceded last month.
Before the accident that rocked his world, Pierre-Paul was sitting on a franchise tag salary of $14.8 million for the 2015 season. Unhappy with the long-term, $60 million offer the Giants put on the table, JPP did not sign the tender and stayed away from all offseason activities.
What if he survived last July 4th unscathed? He likely would have groused a bit but signed and reported to camp on time — or perhaps a week late. He himself would not have been able to prevent the calamitous defensive follies that compromised the season and led to Tom Coughlin’s dismissal, but there is every reason to believe a healthy Pierre-Paul would have put up double-digit sacks and earned himself a lucrative multi-year deal. Figure a six-year package worth at least $90 million. The Giants, with plenty of salary-cap room and a dearth of pass rushers, would have had little choice but to ante up and secure JPP. If not, some other team would have.
Instead, Pierre-Paul hurried back and struggled through the final eight games of 2015, down in weight and strength and at times completely unable to grab onto anything, wearing a massive and cumbersome club to protect his still-healing right hand, finishing with one sack. The Giants, desperate for defensive talent, signed him to a low-risk (and low-commitment) one-year, $10 million deal, with his performance this season to determine if the arrow is pointing up or down on his once-ascendant career trajectory.
The new version of JPP is leaner, and in the spring looked to be in exquisite shape. His frequent Instagram posts show him training like a demon, which is eye-of-the-beholder impressive or self-serving. He will wear a specially designed, four-fingered glove and says he is confident he will be able to grab and hold with what remains of his right hand. The Giants signed former Dolphin Olivier Vernon to an $85 million deal to anchor one defensive end spot. Pierre-Paul will hold down the other side. How capably remains to be seen.
It is foolhardy to expect Pierre-Paul to ever be what he was in 2011, when he was a legitimate candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He should be commended for the way he handled this devastating physical and emotional upheaval. A simple guy, JPP bristled a bit at first when confronting criticism but gradually relented, peppering his comments with humor and a plain-spoken sense of gratitude.
“Put yourselves in my situation … some of you all would be down,’’ he said. “With me, I overcame that situation, I’m back to what I’m doing and I’m loving, I’m living, I’m happy.’’
Last week, in advance of July 4th, Pierre-Paul put out a public service announcement, sponsored by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, warning of the dangers of shooting off fireworks.
“In a split second it blew off my whole hand,’’ JPP said in the video, adding, “Keep fireworks away from kids” and “Leave the fireworks to the fireworks experts.’’
For this July 4th, Pierre-Paul took his family out of the country for a vacation, a change of scenery on his one-year anniversary.
“That will be something that I overcame and I’ll put it behind me,’’ he said. “That will be it.’’
If JPP has any “What ifs’’ rolling around his mind, he has kept those thoughts to himself.