Bull’s-eye, thy name is Sam Bradford’s left knee …
Think about it. After two ACL repair jobs on it, the last thing Bradford, or anyone in his stead, should do is call attention to it.
Alas, brain surgeons don’t seem to mix with the rocket scientists of the NFL world.
Look, I feel for Bradford … and understand his fears, his concerns, his frustration and even his reaction to Saturday night’s low hit by Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs. As someone who had a life, vocational or just recreational, altered completely by sports-related injuries that pushed my knee surgery count into double digits, I get it. Bum wheels suck, and the fact they may implode in a moment’s notice without so much as a tip of the cap to all the time and effort an individual may take to building ‘em and then rebuilding ’em over and over, well, that’s even worse.
But the NFL ain’t his oyster, or anyone else’s, and thinking the rest of the league owes him, or anyone else, special dispensation or protection due for having a hall pass in waiting at the local hospital is ridiculous. It isn’t reality. What playing in the NFL is … is a privilege, even for someone as banged up as our boy Sam.
Pointing out that he had a problem with Suggs’ knee-level tackle is not going to curtail such activity. On the contrary, it will only promote more of the same … because, clearly, taking such tact against Bradford affects him, bothers him – and that will create an edge for the opposition, regardless of whether or not the Eagles quarterback goes down in a heap or remains relatively healthy, physically, all season.
Chip Kelly, Jason Peters, Myckal Kendricks, umm, y’all might wanna shut up, too, because coming to Bradford’s, uhh, “defense” on this, strictly in a verbally sense, only brings attention to one thing – Bradford’s left knee, and its susceptibility to injury.
In speaking out, they are casting aspersions to the one thing they seek – Slingin’ Sammy staying upright, with that knee being rock-solid thanks to being “healed,” and being the QB needed to take the Birds to the big one and win it.
NO PAYOFF: Not for nothing, but if Suggs’ mission was to maim Bradford on the most talked about play of the NFL preseason, and he had the physics-defying abilities to do whatever he wanted within, say, oh, a hundredth of a millisecond, then, man, what a weenie. That is one hitman who ain’t picking up his bounty. Suggs, in reality, made a picture-perfect leg tackle in which clearly kept his helmet away from Bradford’s knees and then merely wrapped up the QB’s wheels and gently took him to the turf. The only thing that wasn’t textbook perfect, and “safe,” was Suggs not keeping his head up through the tackle, so he could see everything that was happening.
BIG PAYOFF: My guess on Kendricks popping off about the “dirtiness” of Suggs’ hit is that it had more to do with him being filled with midnight-green Kool-Aid than anything else, courtesy of signing a four-year extension Monday with the Birds. Regardless, the $29 million deal, with $16.4 million guaranteed, is a good one for the organization, locking up one of its most explosive players as he enters what likely will be his physical and professional prime.
- Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com
Think about it. After two ACL repair jobs on it, the last thing Bradford, or anyone in his stead, should do is call attention to it.
Alas, brain surgeons don’t seem to mix with the rocket scientists of the NFL world.
Look, I feel for Bradford … and understand his fears, his concerns, his frustration and even his reaction to Saturday night’s low hit by Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs. As someone who had a life, vocational or just recreational, altered completely by sports-related injuries that pushed my knee surgery count into double digits, I get it. Bum wheels suck, and the fact they may implode in a moment’s notice without so much as a tip of the cap to all the time and effort an individual may take to building ‘em and then rebuilding ’em over and over, well, that’s even worse.
But the NFL ain’t his oyster, or anyone else’s, and thinking the rest of the league owes him, or anyone else, special dispensation or protection due for having a hall pass in waiting at the local hospital is ridiculous. It isn’t reality. What playing in the NFL is … is a privilege, even for someone as banged up as our boy Sam.
Pointing out that he had a problem with Suggs’ knee-level tackle is not going to curtail such activity. On the contrary, it will only promote more of the same … because, clearly, taking such tact against Bradford affects him, bothers him – and that will create an edge for the opposition, regardless of whether or not the Eagles quarterback goes down in a heap or remains relatively healthy, physically, all season.
Chip Kelly, Jason Peters, Myckal Kendricks, umm, y’all might wanna shut up, too, because coming to Bradford’s, uhh, “defense” on this, strictly in a verbally sense, only brings attention to one thing – Bradford’s left knee, and its susceptibility to injury.
In speaking out, they are casting aspersions to the one thing they seek – Slingin’ Sammy staying upright, with that knee being rock-solid thanks to being “healed,” and being the QB needed to take the Birds to the big one and win it.
NO PAYOFF: Not for nothing, but if Suggs’ mission was to maim Bradford on the most talked about play of the NFL preseason, and he had the physics-defying abilities to do whatever he wanted within, say, oh, a hundredth of a millisecond, then, man, what a weenie. That is one hitman who ain’t picking up his bounty. Suggs, in reality, made a picture-perfect leg tackle in which clearly kept his helmet away from Bradford’s knees and then merely wrapped up the QB’s wheels and gently took him to the turf. The only thing that wasn’t textbook perfect, and “safe,” was Suggs not keeping his head up through the tackle, so he could see everything that was happening.
BIG PAYOFF: My guess on Kendricks popping off about the “dirtiness” of Suggs’ hit is that it had more to do with him being filled with midnight-green Kool-Aid than anything else, courtesy of signing a four-year extension Monday with the Birds. Regardless, the $29 million deal, with $16.4 million guaranteed, is a good one for the organization, locking up one of its most explosive players as he enters what likely will be his physical and professional prime.
- Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com
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