EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Center Shaun O'Hara rejoined the New York Giants on Thursday after being hospitalized for two days with an infected toe on his left foot.
"A hospital is no place for a professional athlete to spend 40 hours staring at a wall," O'Hara said after practicing for Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers. "So I was happy to get out of there. But they took every precaution. I can't sit here and say it wasn't serious, but it wasn't life threatening by any means."
O'Hara received intravenous antibiotics for what he described as a staph infection between his last two toes. It had been a problem for a couple of weeks and flared up before Monday's night's game against the Cleveland Browns.
O'Hara was given medication before the game, noting the toe hurt the most when he had to put on his shoes. He was admitted to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City on Tuesday and released Thursday morning. He probably will have to take oral medication for the next few weeks.
"I obviously didn't feel super fresh, but it just felt good to be out playing the game again and being with my teammates," O'Hara said. "That is the best part, to be back to work. I'm sure I'll feel even better tomorrow."
O'Hara said the doctors told him things could get much worse without treatment, so he went to the hospital. He plans to play Sunday.
The only embarrassment was getting text messages from his teammates.
"Yeah, there were a lot of toe trucks coming around," O'Hara said. "It is a little bit embarrassing, I think, to be in the hospital for a toe. And my phone was kind of blowing up yesterday and I felt bad telling everybody, `I'm fine, thank you for the concern and thank you for the thoughts, but I'll be OK."'
Tackle David Diehl said teammates text-messaged O'Hara just to make sure he was all right before teasing him.
"I made sure I made him remember that being in the city that McDonald's delivers, small things like that," Diehl said.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
