Browns starting free safety Jordan Poyer absorbed a brutal hit he compares to a car accident, then grabbed his cellphone moments before an ambulance took him to St. Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
"I called my mom, called my girlfriend, called me dad, just let them know I was all right, that I was breathing and I wasn't dead yet," Poyer said Monday, speaking for the first time since he suffered a lacerated kidney Oct. 16 in a 28-26 loss to the Tennessee Titans. "They were all happy to just hear my voice, and they were all concerned."
Despite spending the first of his two days in the hospital in intensive care as a result of a devastating blindside block delivered by Titans running back Antonio Andrews and the trepidation of his loved ones, Poyer has vowed to resume his NFL career next year.
"It's definitely not the last that you've seen of me out there on the football field," said Poyer, who's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March. "I promise you that. Definitely I guess you could say, yeah, you appreciate it a little bit more. But I love this game, and I always have and I always will.
"If they told me today I could put my pads on, I'd be out there in my pads. As soon as I'm healthy and able to get back in the gym again, able to get back doing my routines and getting back ready for next season, I'm going to be all-in for it. I can't wait because it's only going to drive me, it's only going to make me a better person, a better player, and I'm excited."
His mother, Julie, isn't as thrilled. She was watching the game in Poyer's hometown of Astoria, Ore., when he suffered the life-threatening injury.
"She definitely is OK with me continuing my career whether she likes it or not," joked Poyer, who was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 2009 after going 25-6 as a high school pitcher. "[She said], 'Why didn't you take the baseball route?' [I said], 'I love football, Mom. Dang, I can't help it.' "
Poyer's passion for the game is evident in his frustration about his 2016 season ending early. He plans to contact former Browns wide receiver Miles Austin to ask him how he coped with a lacerated kidney in 2014 and came back from it. Poyer must wait for the organ to heal naturally before he'll be permitted to run or lift weights. He experiences discomfort when he takes deep breaths, sneezes or coughs.
"This is the first time ever my season's been just gone like that," Poyer said.
The fateful hit occurred as Poyer ran down the field on punt coverage and took what the officials deemed an illegal blindside block from Andrews with 6:33 left in the second quarter. The NFL, however, didn't fine Andrews.
"I don't really know what to be surprised by anymore these days with the fines," Poyer said. "It is what it is. They didn't fine him. Good for him. Good for his family."
Regardless, Poyer never saw the hit coming.
"Basically just like getting in a car accident," he said. "The compression kind of just pops [the kidney], I guess, like a zit.
"He got underneath my chin, so it really wasn't even his helmet. It was more kind of just his elbow and his forearm going straight into my kidney, and that was that."
Poyer said he didn't suffer a concussion. Yet he writhed on the ground and remained there for several minutes after absorbing the hit.
"I just couldn't breathe," Poyer said.
When he eventually walked to the sideline with medical personnel, he felt chest pain and an urge to vomit. He was carted from the sideline to the locker room, where he threw up blood. That's when the decision was made to take him to the hospital.
"At first, I thought I just got the wind knocked out of me," Poyer said. "Having to go through being in the ambulance, going to the hospital and start to realize how serious it was, it was a little frightening."
Fortunately, his girlfriend's father attended the game in Nashville and was able to meet him at the hospital as he tried to alleviate the fears of others close to him.
"My mom was talking about, 'Jordan, I'm getting on a flight right now to come see [you],' " Poyer said. "[I said], 'Mom I'm fine.' ... She was pretty upset."
As Poyer recovered in the hospital, Andrews angered him and the Browns by posting a video clip of the collision on Instagram with the caption "relentless." Poyer called out Andrews on Twitter. Coach Hue Jackson, wide receiver Terrelle Pryor and left tackle Joe Thomas later spoke out against Andrews promoting the play on social media.
Andrews never publicly apologized for the post. He told Tennessee reporters he exchanged direct messages with Poyer on Twitter. Poyer said they indeed communicated privately but declined to disclose the specifics of the conversation.
It was Andrews' perceived gloating, not his hit, that bothered Poyer.
"I'm not upset about the hit," Poyer said. "It's football at the end of the day. Me personally, if roles reversed, I don't even want to get into it a whole lot. The NFL's a band of brothers no matter what team we're on. That's just kind of how I looked at it. But he might've looked at it differently. That was his choice. At the end of the day, what can I do about it other than just get healthy, get back on the field?
