The Most Dangerous Sport to Play
I know injuries, serious or not, happen in every sport every year no matter how much is done to prevent them. You can debate with me all you want but football by far the most dangerous sport you can dare to play. This weekend is just another prime example.
As of earlier today, Rutgers Defensive Tackle Eric LeGrand remains paralyzed from the neck down after a violent collision while trying to tackle the Army kickoff returner in the Army vs Rutgers game at the Meadowlands Saturday afternoon. He is currently hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center after having emergency surgery overnight Saturday for his C-3 and C-4 vertebrae. Spinal injuries are one of the scariest if not the scariest injuries in sports. They are very hard to recover from and doctors rarely give spinal injury patients much of a chance to make a full recovery and walk again. To go along with the many very saddening stories, there's also some very inspiring stories of some who have defied the odds, made full recoveries, and walked again. LeGrand and Rutgers don't have to look far for help and inspiration. Former Penn State Cornerback Adam Taliaferro suffered a very similar spinal injury during a 2000 Penn State football game vs Ohio State. Doctors gave him very little chance to recover. Five months later he led Penn State onto the field. After learning about LeGrand, Taliaferro and his foundation have offered their support to LeGrand, his family, and Rutgers. As with any serious injury, and Taliaferro will tell you this, everyone needs to remain positive and keep all the negative influences away. It's so beneficial to have some as experienced with an injury like this as Adam is and I hope the LeGrand family and Rutgers will let Adam be there to support them. College Football Live interviewed Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano today and he said he's already called Penn State Coach/Mentor Joe Paterno to ask him if there was anything else he could do when dealing with an injury like this, given Paterno and the Penn State program's experience with Adam Taliaferro. Thoughts and prayers go out to Eric, his fam, friends, teammates, and everyone at Rutgers. I hope he makes a full recovery and walks out on the field with Rutgers football team soon.
I don't think I've seen a more vicious hit than the one that occurred Sunday when Falcons CB Dunta Robinson leveled Eagles WR DeSean Jackson and knocked each other out of the game. Apparently, there was quite a few of these violent collisions according to Peter King. Steelers LB James Harrison knocked Browns wide receivers Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi out of the game against the Browns with two helmet first hits . Pats Safety Brandon Meriweather also laid a questionable hit on Raven TE Todd Heap. With player safety in consideration, the NFL has a made a new rule this year that makes launching into a defenseless receiver a penalty and subject to discipline. Will this stop players known for making these crushing hits? Not fines alone according to former Pats Safety and bruising hitter Rodney Harrison. Harrison, now an NBC Football Night in America Analyst, said last night that he used to put money aside every year to pay for his crushing hits and he only changed his play after he was suspended a game for them. He makes a good point by reminding everyone that NFL players make millions of dollars and can afford those fines. However, if a player is suspended for a game or two that hurts the team. I don't think after a few suspensions many coaches or team owners are going to tolerate a head hunter for very much longer. They may be great football players, tacklers, and leaders on the team, but no team can afford to have a player who is continuously being suspended for head hunting. There's a fine line between having rules that make the game safer and rules that degrade the sport. This rule is definitely in that gray area and suspensions are probably a good next step. This will make the game a little safer and make those bone crushing hitters think about the consequences before head hunting. Many players will say they're not going to change their game and I understand that. It's how they've played the game for years. Maybe it's not even something they realize they're doing when they go to hit an opposing player. Like my title today says, play at your own risk. Eric LeGrand ran down the field on the kickoff team looking to hit the kickoff returner and got hurt himself instead when he did hit him. When wide receivers run across the middle of the defense, they are doing it at their own risk and know they're going to get hit hard. Hard hits are a part of the game. You can't change that. You can only try to mitigate it without changing the game too much and be ready for the kind of injuries that can result from these collisions. Based on what I've seen the past few years, the immediate medical attention received by injured players has been outstanding. Let's hope Eric LeGrand recovers and the NFL and all levels of football be even more wary of these hits and the injuries that result from them.
