Injuries are not just a part of the game, they can often rewrite the game completely. They can wreck one player’s career, while jump starting another’s into super stardom. There have been many instances throughout NFL history where a player has suffered a season ending injury, went through 9 months of rehab, got back into playing shape and then return to find his spot has been filled by some up and comer who has suddenly made a name for himself. At this point in the conversation you are probably thinking about one person in particular. I can’t think of his name but he plays for the Patriots and has a wife who has dabbled a little in modeling. Ok, ok, enough joking around, we all know who I am talking about. Tom Brady, the man who set the standard for QB play in the 21st century, was only given that opportunity because of a season ending injury to another QB. Drew Bledsoe was the starter for the Patriots in 2001 when he suffered internal bleeding while playing their week 2 opponent, the NY Jets. Brady was called off the bench to take over and the rest is history. He had a few rough games at first but quickly found his footing and…well we will let the numbers tell the story from there. He is two time MVP (2008, 10), holds or is tied for over 40 different NFL records, including fewest starts to reach 100 wins (131 starts) and most career Super Bowl completions with 100. He has won 3 Super Bowls and 2 Super Bowl MVP awards and still one of the most feared players in the NFL; not to mention his, super hot, supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen. The irony with Tom Brady’s situation is that when he went down with an injury 3 years ago, it allowed Matt Cassel the chance to step up and make a name for himself. He did just that and is now a starter in Kansas City, well sort of. He is out for the season with an injury now but fortunately for him, his job will probably be there when he returns next season.
On the other hand, as Indianapolis has shown us this year, the season ending injury to a player can also be the worst thing that could happen. We all know that Payton Manning is out for the season and we can also see that the Colts are, as Charles Barkley would say, just “TURRIBLE.” They have yet to win a game this season, and for most games, they have not even been competitive. Kerry Collins tried to help but that backfired and it allowed Painter to show us that he is no better of an option. To my knowledge it has never been done before, but can we all agree that Payton Manning may be the most valuable player NOT PLAYING this season? This all brings up the very interesting question of whether or not the Colts should take Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft or will they stick with the hope that Payton Manning will be back to his old self next year. There is no way that Payton will allow them to draft Luck if he is still a Colt next year which makes us wonder just how much control he actually has with the front office. My guess is he will be their QB next year but Luck will be sitting on the sidelines with a headset on ready for his Tom Brady moment. If the Colts do not take him he may very well fall 4 or 5 spots to Washington or Miami. At the moment, I don’t see Carolina, Minnesota, or St. Louis ready to drop their future QB to bring in another rookie, although it would be a lot cheaper now with the new rookie pay grade.
Let’s throw out a few more injuries situations that have changed a team for better or for worse. Multiple WR injuries in Dallas allowed for Miles Austin to have a breakout game and now is he considered one of the top receivers in the league…when healthy. This brings me to HIS replacement this season, Laurent Robinson. The 5th year wide receiver out of Illinois State has bounced around the league before landing this season in Dallas but only because of the injury to Austin. He has done nothing but make big plays this season including 7 touchdowns in just the past 5 games. He took his opportunity and ran with it and at the same time has helped Dallas win their last four games and take over the division lead. On the other hand, injuries to the running game in Cleveland, mainly Peyton Hillis, have drastically hurt the Browns chances of winning many games for the foreseeable future. One winner that has risen due to an injury is running back Michael Bush. We all knew he would decent but with Darren McFadden on the sidelines, Bush has been a major workhorse for the Raiders and he may be about to get a nice little raise in the near future.
A shot to Carson Palmer’s knee in the AFC playoffs in 2005 against the Ravens cost the Bengals a legitimate shot at a title that year and the Bengals were not able to recover from that for several years and Palmer appears to just now be finding his stride again but with a new team. Speaking of that new team, a season ending injury to Jason Campbell of the Oakland Raiders allowed them to bring in Palmer and continue winning as they currently are the division leaders at 6-4.
These injuries can cause a chain reaction of events that can often be felt three or four teams deep. For instance, Matt Cassel is out for the season and the Chiefs have picked up Kyle Orton on waivers. Let’s say he suddenly finds his own teammates more often than the safeties and they win 5 of their last 6 games and just barely miss the playoffs. So now we have a dilemma at the QB position next season and maybe the Chiefs decide to go with Kyle Orton. Matt Cassel is good enough to start for many teams and so now suddenly the Dolphins go after him and sign him to a 6 year deal worth more money that you can fathom ever having. They no longer will go after Andrew Luck and suddenly the Redskins are salivating at the opportunity to draft him with the 6th pick. This now leaves Grossman and Beck looking for new homes next season. These two guys are not the worse pick for QB and there will be teams looking at signing them. Just like that, one injury has caused a chain reaction affecting potentially 5 or more teams.
So as you can see, an injury to an NFL star never affects just that player. It affects the team and in many instances those affects can be felt more many years and can lead to many years or misery or joy, depending on if you’re a team like New England or a team such as the Colts. I could go into the effects this has on Fantasy Football owners but as I have said before, we have all been there and dealt with that. Losing a starting QB to a season injury can be as devastating as losing your dog to old age. You knew it could happen but you just felt it would never happen to you.
-Edward Jennings
