Willis McGahee joined his teammates yesterday at Baltimore’s training complex after doctors told him he would make a full recovery from a fierce helmet-to-helmet hit in the AFC championship game that had him carted off the field.
“I’m all right. Everything is okay,” the running back told reporters as the Ravens, 23-14 losers to Pittsburgh, cleared out their lockers. “The MRI and the CAT scan checked out good. I was scared, but I didn’t know how serious it was. It was pretty intense.”
The play occurred in the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh’s victory. McGahee had just caught a pass and taken two steps before being met by safety Ryan Clark, who drove his helmet into McGahee’s facemask. McGahee’s head snapped back and he lost the ball as he dropped to the ground.
“I didn’t even see him coming,” McGahee said.
I bet that is a hit he will remember for the rest of his life, if his memory sticks.
I remember when I played football every year on the first day of practice the coaching staff made us watch a video that showed players breaking their necks doing exactly what happened in the clip.
I don’t know how those guys in the NFL don’t keep from killing each other more often. It seems like every year they get bigger and faster. I don’t know if it is all the result of modern chemistry or what, but I do know that a decade ago a big tailback might have weighed 210 or so, and now that would be considered small.
I have issues with someone getting paid tens of millions of dollars a year to play a game, but at the same time I kind of feel bad for them. I read that most of the guys who play more than five years in the NFL end up in a wheelchair by the age of fifty five.
I SAW that on TV. Crazy!
Evil Twin’s Wifes last blog post..January 21.
Garrick – It is surprising that there isn’t a lot more serious injuries every year.
ETW – It was wasn’t it!
I always wondered why they wore helmets, i spose this explains it quite well