Jason Pierre-Paul‘s really leaning into his status as “messed-up hand guy.”
The Giants defensive end recently changed his Twitter avatar to an X-ray image of his infamously deformed right hand, giving a bone-level view of the damage he sustained in a career-altering fireworks accident last July 4. The X-ray, from an unknown date, shows two pins stabilizing what’s left of his thumb joint, as well as revealing the halo of scar tissue around his work-in-progress middle finger. The index finger is missing completely.
The avatar change — the landscape photo on his profile is a close-up of his scarred finger nubs — continues a trend of “here’s my pain” social media confessionals. Perhaps the sharing (over-sharing?) is helping the 27-year-old cope with an uncertain NFL future as he prepares to become a free agent next month. The former first-round pick posted one sack in eight games following his return to the Giants last season while wearing an oversized club on his hand.
In January, Pierre-Paul posted an Instagram photo after he had a follow-up surgery on his middle finger, designed to improve his ability to grip with the mangled digit.
“The surgery is definitely going to help me a lot,’’ Pierre-Paul had said. “I can’t grip out of my middle finger, it can’t close right now. That’s the reason why I’m in the club. Once I have my surgery I’ll be fine. I’m excited to actually get it done.’’
Later in the month, he shared a gruesome hospital image from July 5, the day after the fireworks mishap. That photo, in which he appears to be unconscious, shows blood soaking through a massive hand wrap and dotting the front of his gown.