Colts safety Bob Sanders "might never be able to play football again"

Buried at the very, very end of a pretty good Mike Lombardi column for NFL.com was a bit of news that, quite frankly, seems both odd and alarming:

There is some concern Colts safety Bob Sanders might never be able to play football again, with his shoulder and bicep issues. He reduced his contract, but his rehab has been slow.

Um, what?

I thought all the things we were hearing out of West 56th Street and out of Sanders' own mouth were how healthy he was.

"I've been able to rehab myself back to pretty decent health where I can actually practice full time," Sanders said.  "[Organized team activities] have really gone well for me. The knee has been doing great. The arm has been doing great.  I feel great."

The other bit of info gleamed from this report is that Bob re-did his five-year, $37.5 million contract. Though it's doubtful he gave back any of the $20 mill he collected as a bonus, it seems he re-worked the deal in some way or form. Why? Beats me. There's no salary cap, and unless Bob likes giving the Colts money (doubtful) this seems like a very puzzling move.

Almost as puzzling is Lombardi and NFL.com burying this rather important bit of news at the end of the article. I mean, seriously, no one gives two craps about Terrell Owens or the loser team he may or may not sign with, which was the main focus of the article. People are much more interested in the injury status of Sanders. Unlike Owens, Sanders has actually won something.

We will keep an eye on this as camp rolls around in two weeks.

Oh, and before people start jumping all over him for no reason other than being the bearer of potentially bad news. Mike Lombardi is indeed a legit source of news. He doesn't make crap up just to get people freaked out. You might remember two years ago when Mike was the only one who reported that Peyton Manning had two knee surgeries to current his bursa sac issue. And guess what: Mike was right.

We'll post more on this when we hear it. For me, the news changes nothing. I'm still cautiously optimistic about Bob Sanders, but I'm not confident. He hasn't played a full season since 2007, and he hasn't tackled anyone since October of last year.

Tip to stuart0908