David Njoku Showed Off Face Burns, Unreal He Played 2 Days Later | Pat McAfee Reacts

I think we need to pay much more respect to a man who seemingly got incredibly lucky that he still has his vision, but also played just two days after. So Friday, September 29th, David Njoku, tight end of the Cleveland Browns, went to his backyard to his fire pit, went to start a fire. Something happened. Was the gas left on too long before he couldn't get that thing lit and exploded in his face? Is there a little lighter fluid being used that ended up splattering up? Who knows? It does happen. It's unfortunate when it happens. It happened to David Njoku on Friday, September 29th. His face got burnt. Then on Sunday, just a couple of days later, he showed up at the game wearing a mask that made him look like a Halloween character. Dude looked awesome. Shirtless, mask on, either real fur or faux fur coat, just looking like a guy who's about to go wreck shop. I don't think any of us fully understood what his face looked like underneath, but we knew, oh damn, this dude's V for vendetta all of a sudden after his fire on Friday. On the field, he put on a ski mask, had the helmet over top with a visor, looked sweet, but we had no idea what the actual damage was under either of these masks. Now we're getting a chance to look at it a couple of weeks later. His face got messed up. David Njoku is incredibly lucky that we still have vision, we still have face, and obviously him playing just two days after this event takes place, putting a helmet onto the top of his face while going through this, the toughness of that, insane. I think the luck obviously is huge, but David Njoku, thank you for your commitment to your team. Yeah. Genuinely. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think you can see in his sunglasses, it looks like his hands might've got burnt too. Is that bandages all over his one hand too? Yeah, I do believe. He's playing through that too? Yeah, that's scary. Yeah, absolutely that's scary, and obviously fire plays no games and it doesn't apologize and fire just does its thing, but damn, I would've assumed, like I think we all did, like oh, he must've just got like a little, maybe his eyebrows got, like, cause that's happened to some of us, you know, maybe get a little bit of a burn from a lighter or you're lighting like sage or something near your face and that thing, but you hit like your nose a little bit or something like that. I didn't expect this to be a full face burn at all. That's a big, hey, he had to be scared to death as that was happening. And then for him to fight through, hell yeah, dude, need more toughness like that in the world. Yeah, that is one of the most painful, you know, looking photos I feel like that we've seen the player have to go through. Like obviously the Chubb injury and things like that are gruesome, but that looks like it is just as bad. And the fact that he's playing not to bring this back to Deshaun, but like if you're, if you're in that locker room and David and Joku has half of his head burned to a crisp and he's still going out there and playing, and then you think about like their other best player, Nick Chubb is hurt. So without him, you probably have a little bit more like, Hey, my team needs me. Right. And then you have your starting quarterback. Who's getting paid more than anybody, more guaranteed than anybody in the NFL, let alone his team having a bruise on his shoulder. When another guy is going out there, pretty sure the doctors probably did not clear and Joku to play. I have to put a helmet on. I can't imagine. Do you not? So helmets on your head hurt very tight. It's just, it's very completely healthy. I guess like they're new and I'm not somebody that grew up putting a helmet on every single day. So I guess I should not be speaking about this as others have played tackle football since they're like three years old. You know, like I get it. But every single time you put that helmet on, there is a thought of, Oh damn, this is going to be, and you got to get in that thing over your ears. I got a massive head too. The way it's shaped is awkward. So anytime you got to get it over the ears and then when it grips back on the side of your face, I mean, it's supposed to protect you from a concussion because it's supposed to become one with your head. So how tight it is and how hard it is on your head is a real thing. And if it's not tight, it's going to get knocked off, which is a penalty. So they tighten it even more. Like how hard that had to be pressing on his what third degree, fourth degree. I don't even know what that is. Right across his forehead. The forehead. Yeah. Right. That had to hurt so bad. I can't even. How many times do you take off and put on your helmet in the course of a game? Once it was on. It stayed on. Did he not do that? Remember Peyton after the game would have that huge red mark on his forehead. That's like right on the spot what looks the worst. Yeah. That is the forehead, obviously, because there's a lot of hitting there. Side on your sides, which I assume he has some. I can't see the direct side of his face, but I assume that was in there. That had to hurt so bad. I assume everybody in Cleveland, in the medical staff and the coaching staff are like, hey, if you want to take the week off, we. You don't have to play. Not a lot in football, but I think we should take a moment of perspective, happy your face is still. Right? We're still going to be able to fix it. We should have that moment. But also, just putting the helmet on is going to be an excruciating experience for you. So if you want to do that, you can do it. And then he puts it on with his skin just peeling off. What an insane situation. And shout out to Joe Good. Shout out. Do you think they all knew in the facility, or do you think he's rolling around with the ski mask on basically all. I definitely had to look at that. Yeah, he certainly, because that's the doctor you go to. So anything that happens to you in life, doctor at facility, normally going to be the doctor you're going to go to. I guess there's guys that probably have their own personal doctors outside, but that is not for a majority because this doctor is available every single morning at your work. Any questions you have, you feel a little upset, Tommy. Okay. We got a little Pepto Bismol for you. You got a little bit of this. Okay. We got this for you. Oh, I burned myself last night. Okay. We're going to have to look at that. It's probably what happened there. So you can't really hide it through that, especially whenever you're talking about, will somebody play? Will somebody not play? Hey, why haven't we seen your face? Oh, I burnt myself last night. You're not going to make it through training staff, doctors, coaches, teammates, without somebody saying, we got to see your face, dude. Like this is how this has to be. So as soon as they saw it, I would assume they were very, you don't have to play in two days from now. That was Friday night. He's on Sunday. Wow. That thing was probably just starting to settle. Bingo. Really just starting to get settled in. And then he's like, you know what? Let me put the most uncomfortable thing I can on this. Yeah. Can't be good for healing. Sweat. Yeah. It's interesting. It's how do you, it looked like on the side, he just got a bunch of. Yeah. Like almost more gone. Yeah. Like on the right, it looks like he's healed a little. Yeah. What is that? They just got to keep that thing moist. Is that the. Probably. Aquaphor and stuff like that. Burn cream. Got to moisturize. Super duper moisturize. Like he has to, he's blocking defensive ends. Like he, it's not like he's playing wide receiver or just going into catch footballs at tight end. Like he's running his forehead into other guys who are professional athletes in the NFL. Happy to hear. You're all right. Unbelievable. Happy to hear. You're all right. David.