Kick Returns Getting More Hazardous

hagan714 · 09-26-2007, 07:23 AM

POSTED 9:07 a.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 10:26 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2007

KICK RETURNS GETTING MORE HAZARDOUS

Through three weeks of the 2007 NFL season, there have been four serious neck injuries during kick returns.

Four. In three weeks.

Two of them were well publicized. In Week One, Kevin Everett of the Bills fractured his C-3 and C-4 veterbrae. In Week Three, Cedric Killings of the Texans suffered a fracture of the C-4 vertebra in his neck.

The other two have not received much attention. And they happened on the same play.

Per a league source, Packers guard Tony Palmer and Giants defensive end Adrian Awasom collided during a kick return in Week Two. Palmer's injury was reported as a "small-bone fracture in his neck," and Awasom's was dubbed a "fractured transverse process."

The source tells us that both men actually broke the C-4 facet bone (whatever that means) during their violent collision.

Palmer and Awasom never lost feeling in their extremities, but we're told that they both were millimeters away from an outcome like Everett's.

What is it with kick returns and neck injuries? Part of the problem is that the players generate maximum momentum as the coverage unit roars down the field. So when the &nbsp

layers come together and instinctively dip their helmets just before collision, they ultimately are placing maximum pressure on the most delicate of regions in this bodies, and putting their lives in peril.

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09-26-2007, 07:23 AM	#1
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	Kick Returns Getting More Hazardous POSTED 9:07 a.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 10:26 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2007 KICK RETURNS GETTING MORE HAZARDOUS Through three weeks of the 2007 NFL season, there have been four serious neck injuries during kick returns. Four. In three weeks. Two of them were well publicized. In Week One, Kevin Everett of the Bills fractured his C-3 and C-4 veterbrae. In Week Three, Cedric Killings of the Texans suffered a fracture of the C-4 vertebra in his neck. The other two have not received much attention. And they happened on the same play. Per a league source, Packers guard Tony Palmer and Giants defensive end Adrian Awasom collided during a kick return in Week Two. Palmer's injury was reported as a "small-bone fracture in his neck," and Awasom's was dubbed a "fractured transverse process." The source tells us that both men actually broke the C-4 facet bone (whatever that means) during their violent collision. Palmer and Awasom never lost feeling in their extremities, but we're told that they both were millimeters away from an outcome like Everett's. What is it with kick returns and neck injuries? Part of the problem is that the players generate maximum momentum as the coverage unit roars down the field. So when the &nbsplayers come together and instinctively dip their helmets just before collision, they ultimately are placing maximum pressure on the most delicate of regions in this bodies, and putting their lives in peril. ProFootballTalk.com -- The Best Pro Football Scoop on the Internet There is more to the article. Do you really want Bush as our sacrificial lamb to the football gods?