The flu can be horrible to have. You are bed ridden. You feel like you can't do anything. Every moment is somewhat painful. Unfortunately, no one is immune from it - even athletes. When it hits athletes, it can sevrely affect their own personal performance and the overall team performance. There are several examples of this happening.
Former NFL Quaterback, Joe Montana, suffered from the flu in what was known as, "The Chicken Soup Game." Notre Dame and the University of Houston met at the 1979 Cotton Bowl in Dallas on a freezing New Year's Day in 1979. Joe Montana was suffering from the flu and sat most of the game out while being fed hot chicken soup in the locker room. With Houston leading 34-12 with less than eight minutes remaining in the game, Joe found the strength to return to the field.
By the end of the game, the Fighting Irish had roared back to take a 35-34 victory with no time left on the clock, largely as a result of Montana's participation. It was one of the greatest college football comebacks ever played and was the beginning of Joe Montana's status as a legendary player.
While Joe Montana's play was masterful, the weather played an important role in the game as well. An ugly mixture of sleet, freezing drizzle and freezing rain began on the afternoon of 30 December and continued into the mid-morning hours of the 31st. About three-quarters of an inch of liquid precipitation fell during that time while temperatures were in the 29 to 31 degree range, resulting in a thick layer of glaze covering every exposed surface. Then, on the day of the game, cold air roared into north Texas on the backside of the storm system with northwest winds gusting to 38 mph. The high for the day was only 24 degrees with a low of 14. Playing conditions were brutal and Montana's bout of the flu didn't help matters.
Buffalo Bills defensive end, Bruce Smith, who had made the Pro Bowl eight times up to that point and was arguably the Bills' best defender, caught the flu, keeping him out of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh scored more points against Buffalo than anyone had all season, winning 40-21. The Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XXX, where they were beaten by the Dallas Cowboys, 27-17. The Bills have not won their division or a playoff game since.
Smith, voted to the Pro-Bowl for the eighth time this year, was running a temperature of 103 degrees. He was listed as doubtful and Bills General Manager, John Butler, said it was "highly unlikely" he would play. Buffalo did arrange for a plane to stand by in case Smith felt better this morning.
An 11-year veteran, Smith had 10 1/2 sacks this year and anchored the vastly improved Buffalo defense with NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Bryce Paup.
The New York Giants arrived for the Super Bowl, looking like the cast from "Men in Black" and battling the flu. Rookie starting cornerback, Aaron Ross, threw up on the plane just before it left Newark-Liberty International Airport, the sixth player to be hit with the bug.
Starting fullback, Madison Hedgecock, backup defensive tackle, Manny Wright and rookie safety, Michael Johnson, all missed practice the past Friday after running temperatures.
"I hope that’s the end of it," coach Tom Coughlin said after the team arrived at its hotel. "We had three guys missing last week and some who were not quite as sick. But it didn’t drain those players like the three that stayed home." .
Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end, Michael Strahan, fared better than some of his teammates. He sat out just one day with a cold from the NFC title game, when the Giants beat the Packers in frigid Green Bay, where the wind chill factor made it feel like minus-24.
"You know what, Green Bay, everyone got sick after that," Strahan said. "I’m still, you can tell by my voice, I’m still not right since that. The flu bug, by Sunday, if you have it, it’s gone because we need you. A lot of times when you are sick you play better because you concentrate."
From Coughlin to Strahan and every player who appeared at the media session, the order of the day was dress blacks.
Five of the six players in the media session were all dressed alike: black suits; black shirts & black ties. Punter Jeff Feagles and Coughlin wore white shirts with their black suits and reddish ties.
"It’s a business trip, we didn’t come here for anything else," receiver, Plaxico Burress, said. “We’re playing to win."
Asked whether it was a business trip or funeral, Burress smiled and said, "It’s a business trip. It could be both." Antonio Pierce, who engineered the all-black wardrobe look, was emphatic that the Giants were neither satisfied just to be at the Super Bowl nor fodder for the Patriots’ final step to a perfect season.
It seemed everyone had recovered in time for Super Bowl XLII, a memorable game in which the Giants emerged victorious, 17-14.
Having won the silver medal in Men's Singles at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Elvis Stojko was among the favourites to take the gold at Nagano, Japan.
Stojko had a minor groin pull beforehand, which he said was exacerbated by the flu, both of which worked against him. While he was able to capture the silver medal again, he blames the illness for keeping him from gold.
Chris Weinke came down with the flu just before their 2000 season-ending game against their arch rival, the Florida Gators.
They needn't have worried, as Weinke threw three touchdown passes and Florida State annihilated Florida 30-7 to advance to the Orange Bowl, where the championship would be decided.
Despite Weinke's heroics, Florida State was not able to repeat as national champions, falling to Oklahoma 13-2 in the Orange Bowl.
Weinke was awarded the Heisman Trophy, given to college football's best player, at the end of the season.
The 1919 Stanley Cup Finals was the Ice Hockey playoff series to determine the 1919 Stanley Cup champions. The series was cancelled due to an outbreak of Spanish flu after five games had been played and no champion was declared. It was the only time in the history of the Stanley Cup that it was not awarded due to a no-decision after playoffs were held.
The series was a rematch of the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals and the first since the armistice to end World War I. Hosting the series in Seattle was the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Seattle Metropolitans, playing against the National Hockey League (NHL) champions, Montreal Canadiens. Both teams had won two games, lost two and tied one before health officials were forced to cancel the deciding game of the series; after the Game 4 tie, the teams had agreed to play sudden death overtime if required.
Most of the Canadiens players and their manager, George Kennedy, fell ill with the flu and were hospitalised, leaving only three healthy players. The flu claimed the life of Canadiens defenceman, Joe Hall, four days later. Kennedy was terminally weakened by his illness, and it led to his death in 1921.
Probably the most famous case is, "The Flue Game" that affected Michael Jordan. It occurred during the 1997 Finals. Jordan was playing for the Chicago Bulls and they were up against Utah Jazz. It was game 5 and the series was tied 2 -2.
At 2:30 on Tuesday morning, Jordan woke up and began to experience vomiting and diarrhea and called his personal trainer to his hotel room, where he was found lying curled up in the fetal position, shaking and sweating profusely. He hardly had the strength to sit up in bed and requested a doctor. He was diagnosed with a stomach virus or food poisoning, likely caused by a pizza ordered the night before. Jordan eventually claimed it was food poisoning in the 2020 docuseries, "The Last Dance."
The Bulls' athletic trainers told Jordan that there was no way he could play the next day but Jordan insisted that he could play. The Jazz were a perfect 10–0 at home in the post-season up until that point and a third consecutive win would give them the series lead. The Bulls needed their leader for this critical game and despite his sickness, Jordan got out of bed at 17:50 on Wednesday, just in time for the 19:00 tip-off at the Delta Center.
Jordan was weak as he stepped on the court for Game 5 and missed team warm ups. At first, he displayed little energy, and John Stockton, along with reigning MVP Karl Malone, led the Jazz to a 16-point lead (36–20) in the second quarter. However, Jordan slowly began to make shots despite lacking his usual speed. He scored 17 points in the quarter as the Bulls ended the half with a large run cutting the Jazz lead to four (53–49).
While Jordan was fatigued in the third and sitting on the bench, Utah was able to reclaim the lead and stretched it to 8 points (77–69). Jordan shot well again in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points. With 46.4 seconds left and Chicago down 85–84, he was fouled and went to the free throw line. He made the first to tie the game but missed the second. Toni Kukoč got the offensive rebound to Jordan, who dribbled back to allow the offense to set up. He passed the ball to Pippen, who was quickly double-teamed. Pippen then passed the ball back to a now-unguarded Jordan, who made a 3-point shot to give the Bulls an 88–85 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the game.
A Greg Ostertag dunk brought the Jazz back within one point but Luc Longley answered with a dunk of his own and Chicago held on for a victory when John Stockton missed the first of two free throws in front of the stunned crowd. With only a few seconds remaining and the game's result safely in Chicago's favour, Jordan collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms, creating an iconic image that has come to symbolize The Flu Game.
By 1997, there weren’t many ways for Jordan to be considered an underdog. Playing through illness - food poisoning or a sudden and severe virus had seized him between Games 4 and 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah - did add a new chapter to his legend.
"Probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done," Jordan said afterward. "I almost played myself into passing out just to win a basketball game." Not just any game, though — a Finals game. Bulls coach, Phil Jackson, said, "This was a heroic effort, one to add to the collection of efforts that make up his legend."
Being sick can affect a performance. However, the athletes named above all overcame it. They put in strong performances. This shows that they were mentally tough and nothing could stop them from playing. We can all learn from their example.
I guess these cases are clear examples of mind over matter.