Of Brains And ACLs

Miami Dolphins TE Dustin Keller suffered the dreaded season-ending injury in a meaningless preseason game. His knee was blown to pieces by a low hit delivered by Houston Texans DB D.J. Swearinger. Swearinger took to social media, saying he bore no ill intent toward Keller but he was afraid of being fined for going high so he went low. This has generated a blognado (I’d say a Category 2, maybe 3 tops) of posts and comments and shown up on various video outlets. I watched the ESPN MNF crew (I think it was Tirico, Boomer, Ditka, Keyshawn, Cris Carter and Tom Jackson) debate the high/low hit conundrum before the Pittsburgh-Washington preseason tilt. They actually debated the relative impact of a blown ACL vs. a concussion. Sort of a variation on the old face or gut question. I suppose I should be unsurprised they all chose concussions. Have they forgotten Junior Seau so soon? They also seemed as unfamiliar with human anatomy as Swearinger. We still have torsos, don’t we?

 

When I was playing Little Tanker Football – admittedly a long time ago – I was taught to tackle. I was taught to keep my head up and in front of the runner and plant my shoulder pads on the runner’s belly button, lock my arms around the hips and slide down.

It was a simpler time.

I’m just saying D.J. Swearinger didn’t have to hit Dustin Keller in the knee because he couldn’t hit him in the head. He didn’t have to hit him in the knee at all.