On SportsIllustrated.com today, Tim Layden posted a preview of his article on Kevin Everett's ongoing recovery cycle. The full article is going to be in SI's print edition, but the two online pages still made a hell of an impression.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it's pretty straightforward. In the season opener, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Denver Broncos. Tight-end Kevin Everett went for a tackle and broke his neck. To be precise, his helmet collided with another helmet and snapped his head back, leaving him a quadriplegic on the field.
Thanks to the fantastic work of Buffalo Bills training staff, they were able to keep Everett's spinal column intact. Surgeon Dr. Andrew Cappuccino was able to perform a controversial procedure involving hypothermic treatment and his patient is saved.
Kevin Everett is able to walk again.
No, he'll never be a professional football player again. But who cares? A young man has avoided personal tragedy. That's much more important then some game.
I think one of the most frustrating, if not upsetting, parts of this story is that there is no one to blame. Sports is, by its nature, oppositional. If it is not a head-to-head game, there's at least someone you are competing against. Someone to other.
But in this case, there was no other. There was no one to blame.
Everett's hit was clean, and was a play that could happen to any player in the NFL or the Canadian Football League. Helmet-to-helmet collisions are a constant in the game, and can't be removed from North American football.
You can't levy a fine on bad luck and you can't suspend a bad break. Thank goodness Kevin Everett is not a quadriplegic.
Everett's temporary paralysis was the result of one of the standard risks of being a professional athlete. It is something that we, as fans, should keep in mind. Every time our favourite athletes step on to the field of play, they are taking enormous risks.
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