Vontaze Burfict suffers neck injury

[JonLP24]

Last edited Sun Oct 19, 2014, 06:21 PM - Edit history (1)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict left the first quarter of Sunday afternoon's game against the Indianapolis Colts after suffering a neck injury.

The play came just inside the final two minutes of the opening period, when Burfict was chasing Colts quarterback Andrew Luck out of the pocket deep in the red zone. As Luck ran inside the 10, Burfict made contact with him with what appeared to be the crown of his helmet.

Replays showed that no other part of Burfict had hit the quarterback before his helmet struck Luck's chest. Just after the play ended, Burfict was down on the ground for a few moments before trainers rushed out to evaluate him.

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This neck injury comes after Burfict has already dealt with concussion problems most of this season. He has only finished one game this year -- last week's -- after missing parts of four others with head injuries.

Burfict experienced a concussion in Week 1 and came back from it to play in Week 2, when he was diagnosed with another. After that game, he took the next three weeks off before coming back last Sunday against the Panthers.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11728572/vontaze-burfict-cincinnati-bengals-suffers-neck-injury-indianapolis-colts

While there is the obvious karma (not something I believe in consider wealth concentration and why) implication especially with the leading the head causing the injury I never did consider the concussion angle. Concussions and other head injuries changes behavior & personality and there is mountains of evidence to suggest that the changes are due to the injury rather than prior personality of the individual.

While there was a bit of an issue his freshman year (he stopped Georgia on a huge 4th & 1 but aided Georgia with a penalty on their game winning drive) it wasn't his Junior year where it was a big problem. I did focus a huge amount of the blame on Erickson due to his teams generally feature a lack of discipline. Plus he had a middle linebacker mindset like a Romanowski(but not as bad). It also doesn't mean as a freshman he didn't experience concussions in high school considering he played on a state championship team near San Diego (Lincoln Park neighborhood alone produced great all-time running backs & Akili Smith) with two other defenders who went 3rd round to higher in the NFL draft - implying the level of competition faced was high.

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Interesting stuff I came across looking up Bill Romanowski

"Probably the best kid I ever had," Jack Bicknell, the former Boston College coach, said in a telephone interview last week. "He was different, kind of particular about things, wanted his uniform done in a certain way. He was never involved in drinking. He was a tremendous physical specimen and he worked at it and that has obviously continued, maybe to a point where it's a little over the top.

"But he was everything that you wanted. He was not a wild man. He never punched anybody. I see the things on TV that he's involved with now and I don't recognize that guy. I just refuse to believe he's anything but the guy I coached and knew. Things happen, I guess."

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In September, concussion problems ended his season, as well as a streak of 243 consecutive games played.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2003/12/27/2003085389

There was no doubt he was a steroid user so "roid rage" (though I haven't looked at the research behind that sort of behavior change) so that can't be ruled but I feel what a lot is blamed on "roid rage" is actually due to head injuries.

[mythology]

1. He lowered his head into the other player

Which is legal, but also not the best plan to preserve one's neck.