"I'm out for the year", he said.
Right away, Seattle Seahawks star cornerback Richard Sherman knew that fighting through Achilles soreness to take the field had cost him the rest of his 2017 season. In the second half of the Seahawks battle with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night, Sherman ruptured his Achilles.
Sherman, an emotional, outspoken star, remained on the sideline until the final whistle blew, fighting back tears as he told his teammates that he'd be unable to play alongside them until next season. Although Sherman's injury was the most notable, he was one of four players who suffered season-ending injuries during the Thursday (Nov.
9) massacre. For the Cardinals, Tyvon Branch, D.J. Humphries, and Ifeanyi Momah will all miss the rest of the 2017 season. Aside from catastrophic injuries, countless players on both sides left University of Phoenix Stadium banged up.
Doug Baldwin Fires Away at NFL
The Seahawks were able to escape with a victory, but the mood in their locker room after the game was anything but cheerful. When wide receiver Doug Baldwin, another outspoken star Seahawks player, took to the podium, he let America know how he felt.
"This [expletive] should be illegal," Baldwin said of teams having to play on Thursday night without having their bye week fall on the prior Sunday. "It is not OK. It's not OK. You can quote me on that." Baldwin's comments were clear and firm, but he is far from the only player or coach to voice their displeasure with "Thursday Night Football." In fact, Richard Sherman himself called Thursday games a "poopfest" back in 2016.
Baldwin and other NFL players aren't alone in their complaints, as coaches have also been unhappy with the onslaught of "Thursday Night Football" games in the past couple seasons. Physical wear and tear isn't the issue for coaches, but developing a complete gameplan in just four days is easier said than done.
Year of the Injury in NFL
The 2017 NFL season hasn't been for the faint of heart, with star players going down with major injuries seemingly every week. Coming into Week 10, stars like Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham Jr., J.J. Watt, and Deshaun Watson had already been ruled out until the 2018 season, without numerous others joining them on the injured reserve.
Letting the body heal after a brutal Sunday afternoon, then getting prepared for another battle the following Sunday is already quite the physical task, but to do both in only four days is borderline impossible. As a result, NFL fans have been quick to notice the lack of quality football being played each Thursday. It took a return to NBC this past week for "Thursday Night Football's" ratings to rebound from a lackluster start.
Ratings are everything for the NFL, a league which time and time again has proven that money comes before player safety. It's likely that a lack of viewership would make NFL brass flinch more than a rash of Thursday injuries. However, the league simply cannot afford a number of injuries to star players that they've faced this season, in some cases rendering those teams no longer contenders (that'd be the Green Bay Packers).
In 2016, Sports Illustrated's Greg Bishop wrote a fantastic piece diagramming just what the day after a game is like for NFL players. There is no productive work to be done on Monday morning, at least not physically. Aside from kickers and punters, no NFL player is in any kind of shape to head out for a practice the day after a game, which shortens a "Thursday Night Football" preparation week to just three days.
In football, there's often little one can do to prevent injury. With a sport this violent, there are always going to be injuries, unfortunately. But in an NFL that's faster, stronger, and more violent than ever, it's time for the league to realize that time's up for "Thursday Night Football."
