|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
The big hurt in the NFL
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum touches on a Hot Button issue each Monday on CNNSI.com. After you read Jack's take, give us yours. Let's say you're a fan of the theater and one night you show up only to find out that the part normally played by Dame Judith Dench will be taken by Angela Lansbury, and the next night the producers regret to inform you that the Gene Hackman role will be assumed by Regis Philbin, and for the Saturday matinee you get, say, Robert Urich instead of the advertised Barnard Hughes. At some point, you're going to stay home and watch Laurence Olivier on DVD. But for reasons that have long confounded me, there is no hue and cry, no consumer backlash, no hit-`em-in-the-pocketbook revolt against the National Football League, which year after year does not adequately address its most serious problem. No, it's not players who commit felonies. It's injuries. Player after player goes down and team after team is weakened by the use of second- and third-line scrubs, yet loyal fans continue to shrug their shoulders, faithfully consult the "probable" and "doubtful" agate in the sports section and turn on the games anyway.
Here's a partial accounting of those maimed in action even before final cuts have been made: Wide receivers Patrick Jeffers of the Carolina Panthers and Rob Moore of the Arizona Cardinals are both out for the season with torn ACLs. Two Denver Broncos wide receivers, Chris Doering (ruptured Achilles) and Muneer Moore (broken left ankle), were hurt in the same game. Two Seattle Seahawks, tight end Rufus French and linebacker DeShone Myles, ripped up their left knees on back-to-back days. Joining Jeffers on the Panthers' out-for-the-season train are safety Deon Grant (broken hip) and kicker John Kasay (broken kneecap). Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Leon Searcy is out with a ruptured quadriceps and Cleveland Browns quarterback Ty Detmer is Tim Couch's backup no more after rupturing his Achilles. The New Orleans Saints have lost four players, including tight end Cam Cleeland (ruptured Achilles) and cornerback Steve Israel (broken left leg) who are gone for the season. Do not even consider this close to a complete list. Look, stuff happens. We all know that. But the NFL needs to put serious money -- at least as much as the king's ransom it spends on marketing -- into a careful, case-by-case study of injuries. Are certain teams better equipped to avoid injuries because they take the time to develop effective conditioning philosophies? Are certain positions vulnerable to particular types of injury? Do certain practice regimens result in more injuries than others? And this oldie but goodie: Is artificial turf responsible for an inordinate number of the injuries? Cardinals running back Michael Pittman thinks so. "If we were on grass," he said of recent knee injuries suffered in games by teammates Moore, defensive tackle Rashod Swinger, safety Tommy Bennett and cornerback Coby Rhinehart, "I guarantee they'd still be playing right now. Turf is terrible." And Arizona coach Vince Tobin probably thinks so. "I'm sure that surface [turf] is one of the things they're studying very, very hard," said Tobin after two players went down on the turf in the Metrodome Friday night, "but there aren't a lot of easy answers right now." No, there are not. But league officials must find those answers. And if they discover that turf is a culprit -- personally, I don't see them reaching any other conclusion -- than they must rip it up and come up with something better. To put their players' careers in jeopardy, not to mention the good graces of their fans, would be something approaching criminal mismanagement. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum writes about a Hot Button issue every Monday on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
