The fallout from Kickoff Weekend left some bodies in the wake. Injuries are certainly part of the game, but I cannot remember a season in recent memory where so many players were seriously injured in just one week. The most important one is Kevin Everett, who may never walk again. An injury of this kind has not happened in 16 years. Many people thought that with the helmet re-designs and the new rules in place that paralyzing accidents were a thing of the past. Of course, such new rules and protections were not designed or applied to special teams, were guys run down the field at full speed and launch themselves into other men like missiles. Everett was hurt playing special teams.
Other injuries in Week One pale in comparison, but the sheer number of them is eye-popping. Jason Ferguson, Orlando Pace, Mike Brown, Dusty Dvoracek, Jason Simmons, and Yeremiah Bell are all done for 2007. While none are household names, all are vital players for their respective teams. Ferguson is the worst injury. The entire Cowboys defense is built around him at NT. Unless they find a replacement, guys like Dedric Ward are going to slice them up all season.
Other injuries aren't season threatening, but they are certainly worth noting. Eli Manning is likely done for at least a month. Jonathan Ogden re-injured his toe. Ray Lewis tore is triceps muscle. Osi Umenyiora is out two months, as is Brandon Jacobs. With all these injuries, it's just blind silly luck that the Colts only have Freddie Keiaho's injured elbow to deal with.
I've never seen a Week One with so many terrible injuries. In a league like this, injuries this early could make all the difference for some fringe teams, but that really doesn't matter. Not now. Not when a guy like Everett is hooked up to life support and faces the very real possibility that he'll never walk again.