dragondawg
08-10-2007, 01:34 PM
Collision last season causes no ill feelings between players
BY FRANK SCHWAB, THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD - Paul Smith lay in a hospital bed last October with fractured bones around his left eye. In the bed next to him, Frank Davis didn’t say much. Davis wore a neck brace and was feeling the effects of a concussion.
They hadn’t been in a car crash. Smith, who is now a fullback for the Denver Broncos, ran down on a kickoff for the St. Louis Rams and hit Davis, an offensive lineman for the Detroit Lions. When they collided, both of Smith’s chin straps popped off, his helmet slid down and slammed into his eye.
Smith walked off the field, but Davis left on a stretcher after suffering a stinger, which is a pinched nerve in the neck. The extent of the injuries were unusual. But the collision between 237-pound Smith running full speed at 326-pound Davis, who was part of a line of blockers on kickoff return known as the “wedge,” is a weekly occurrence for NFL special teams players.
“Week in and week out, it’s basically putting your career and sometimes your life on the line, especially the guys that have to hit the wedge,” Smith said. “Everybody in the NFL has a lot of pride and doesn’t want to back down from competition.”
After the play, which happened Oct. 1, Smith said he didn’t realize the extent of his injury because he didn’t have much swelling. There was some pain, so he went to the hospital after the game. An X-ray showed fractures around the eye and some muscle damage.
On the fateful play, Smith knew he had to break up the wedge, which would allow other Rams to make the tackle.
“I heard some guys talking on the team about how I wasn’t hitting the wedge as hard as I used to,” Smith said. “All I really remember of that whole game was I had thoughts in my head ‘I’m going to smash into this wedge pretty good.’”
Broncos special teams coordinator Scott O’Brien said he teaches his players proper technique, and how to use their equipment to avoid getting injured on kickoffs. He also tells his players to not slow down.
“It becomes an 18-wheeler against an 18-wheeler,” O’Brien said. “If you stop your feet, you become a Volkswagen. Your chances aren’t very good.”
Davis used the same car analogy.
“When you have that kind of weight and he runs that fast, that’s like a car going a certain miles per hour,” Davis said.
Smith and Davis roomed together in the hospital. Davis said the hospital staff asked if he minded sharing the room with Smith, whose hit knocked him out.
“No hard feelings,” Davis said. “That’s cool.”
Smith said his wife, Maribel, brought both injured players dinner that night. Davis and Smith said they weren’t upset about the play, because it was part of playing special teams.
“You look at football as a job, and when you go out of it you see another player as a brother,” Smith said.
“It just goes with the job,” Davis said. “You play a violent game.”
Another part of the job was coming back a few weeks later and playing again. Smith missed two games, even though he had surgery to put plates in his face. Davis missed on[BODY]e game.
Both players said they didn’t think about their collision when they got back to work. If they did, they probably couldn’t have done their job.
“It’s the mentality of any football player, especially one that runs into wedges or sets up wedges for a living,” Smith said. “You have to have the mental toughness to push your body to the limit.”
http://www.gazette.com/sports/smith_25857___article.html/davis_play.html
BY FRANK SCHWAB, THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD - Paul Smith lay in a hospital bed last October with fractured bones around his left eye. In the bed next to him, Frank Davis didn’t say much. Davis wore a neck brace and was feeling the effects of a concussion.
They hadn’t been in a car crash. Smith, who is now a fullback for the Denver Broncos, ran down on a kickoff for the St. Louis Rams and hit Davis, an offensive lineman for the Detroit Lions. When they collided, both of Smith’s chin straps popped off, his helmet slid down and slammed into his eye.
Smith walked off the field, but Davis left on a stretcher after suffering a stinger, which is a pinched nerve in the neck. The extent of the injuries were unusual. But the collision between 237-pound Smith running full speed at 326-pound Davis, who was part of a line of blockers on kickoff return known as the “wedge,” is a weekly occurrence for NFL special teams players.
“Week in and week out, it’s basically putting your career and sometimes your life on the line, especially the guys that have to hit the wedge,” Smith said. “Everybody in the NFL has a lot of pride and doesn’t want to back down from competition.”
After the play, which happened Oct. 1, Smith said he didn’t realize the extent of his injury because he didn’t have much swelling. There was some pain, so he went to the hospital after the game. An X-ray showed fractures around the eye and some muscle damage.
On the fateful play, Smith knew he had to break up the wedge, which would allow other Rams to make the tackle.
“I heard some guys talking on the team about how I wasn’t hitting the wedge as hard as I used to,” Smith said. “All I really remember of that whole game was I had thoughts in my head ‘I’m going to smash into this wedge pretty good.’”
Broncos special teams coordinator Scott O’Brien said he teaches his players proper technique, and how to use their equipment to avoid getting injured on kickoffs. He also tells his players to not slow down.
“It becomes an 18-wheeler against an 18-wheeler,” O’Brien said. “If you stop your feet, you become a Volkswagen. Your chances aren’t very good.”
Davis used the same car analogy.
“When you have that kind of weight and he runs that fast, that’s like a car going a certain miles per hour,” Davis said.
Smith and Davis roomed together in the hospital. Davis said the hospital staff asked if he minded sharing the room with Smith, whose hit knocked him out.
“No hard feelings,” Davis said. “That’s cool.”
Smith said his wife, Maribel, brought both injured players dinner that night. Davis and Smith said they weren’t upset about the play, because it was part of playing special teams.
“You look at football as a job, and when you go out of it you see another player as a brother,” Smith said.
“It just goes with the job,” Davis said. “You play a violent game.”
Another part of the job was coming back a few weeks later and playing again. Smith missed two games, even though he had surgery to put plates in his face. Davis missed on[BODY]e game.
Both players said they didn’t think about their collision when they got back to work. If they did, they probably couldn’t have done their job.
“It’s the mentality of any football player, especially one that runs into wedges or sets up wedges for a living,” Smith said. “You have to have the mental toughness to push your body to the limit.”
http://www.gazette.com/sports/smith_25857___article.html/davis_play.html