It was a cold hard day for players and fans alike at many of the NFL venues on last Sunday. Blizzards raged and snow piled up on the gridiron. It was unusual, it was fun and it was kind of pretty to watch.
Bettors who bet the Under for Sunday’s matchups rejoiced at seeing all that inclement weather during the pregame shows and most people were expecting low scoring games. But that was not at all the way it turned out. In fact, there were 90 touchdowns scored by NFL teams on Sunday and most of the totals went Over.
They day of fun in the snow was somewhat spoiled when one of the best football players on the field went down to injury. Bronco’s tight end Ron Gronkowski was carted off the field and taken straight to the hospital in the third quarter of the Patriots 27-26 come-from-behind victory over the Cleveland Browns.
Gronk had just come back from other injuries he suffered earlier in the season. He got to play only six games with the Pats before this tragic, season ending event came to pass.
He was upended after catching a pass from Tom Brady by Browns safety TJ Ward who later told reporters why he went in low on Gronkowski, “It was a decision I made just to make a tackle on a big man and unfortunately he got hurt, but if I would’ve hit up high, there’s a chance I would get fined and all that other stuff. I’m just being safe.”
That’s kind of a frightening statement when you stop to think about it. A defensive back’s priorities have switched from playing football the way they always have, to basing decisions as to where they will hit the guy with the ball on how much it might cost them in fines from the NFL Commissioners office. There is something out of whack here.
It is unclear as yet if the new rules in place to protect the players against head injuries have actually increased the number of knee injuries or not. We sure seem to be hearing a lot more about ACL’s and such of late.
It is true that, when the NFL announced the change in the rules concerning hits to the head area, there was an outcry amongst NFL players that there would be a corresponding increase in knee injuries as a result of the rule change.
