Every once in a while football will remind you that it is a game built on violence…that it only takes one play to negate a brilliant season or to end a legend. That it can be cruel in its randomness, that someone can seem invincible one moment and on their way to the hospital the next.
This past weekend we were reminded of this cruelty in a way that sent our collective hearts through the floor: the brutal ankle injury of Cam Skattebo, the Arizona State University phenom who captured our hearts during the team’s epic run last year.
For those who have not seen the injury yet, it is one that demands a disclaimer. After what seemed like a relatively routine play as a defender fell onto his lower legs in an attempt to stop him, it quickly and obviously morphed into something far more sinister. A shot of him on the ground showed his lower leg with a foot that was seemingly only attached to the leg by flesh, with a potential bone protruding out and his foot turned in a way that can only happen as a result of massive trauma.
Even in the face of what was clearly a catastrophic injury, Skat momentarily asked for his teammates’ help in getting up before it was clear…he would not be getting up. The actual diagnosis was a dislocated ankle, but that descriptor doesn’t do it justice.
Granted, injuries are a part of the game, as we all know. But it’s to whom and when it happened that maximizes the cruelty. Skattebo had quickly become nothing short of a national sensation, earning heaps of praise from fans across the country for his relentlessly bruising style, a throwback to football of old, along with a demeanor that made him likable and accessible around the country. He had, in short, become a phenom, injecting the first real glimmers of hope that his team, the New York Giants, had had in years. And that hope died with one play.
Skat will almost certainly be back in the NFL at some point. He’s far too tenacious of a player to let that end his career. But will he ever return to the one man dynamo that he was beforehand? It will be tough to play with the reckless abandon that defined him with a rebuilt ankle.
Until then, all we can do is pray for a speedy recovery, and lament the brutal chaos of this great game.