Dustin Keller tears ACL, MCL, PCL, and dislocates knee

I just would like to thank everyone for not posting a giff.

<3

And yeah, it was a gruesome injury, but I honestly don't know how players don't go down with those kind of injuries every other run with how often they are hit on the legs.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Everybody pray 4 justin keller....i pray you have a speedy recovery bro...and kill it when you get back.... DEFINITELY wasnt intentional..</p>&mdash; DJ Swearinger (@JungleBoi_Swagg) <a href="https://twitter.com/JungleBoi_Swagg/statuses/368948386746990593">August 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Apparently DJ Swearinger doesn't even know the guy he injured

 

They've had a bad rep for years, you just don't hear it reported by Houston media. I think Lance has talked about it and if you read other the papers from other teams you'd see more of it.

 

This kid isn't very bright.

 

After seeing so many replays, I honestly can say that we are gonna see a lot of these injuries in the coming few years... Feel terrible for Dustin(not Justin...DJ)

As Keller caught the ball and try landing, DJ was already in a tackling motion. As soon as Keller's foot planted on the grass, DJ was following through on his tackle. Using the ground, DJ's added force below the knee, and Keller's upper torso also moving forward; His knee literally shattered as tremendous amounts of force were directed to his knee ligaments. Personally I don't see Keller playing football again...

Majority of public opinion thinks that DJ's tackle was dirty...I think I have to agree...

For a football player, this is his lively-hood to be able to maximize profits over a short life span of playing this game. And the knee, neck and head are the most important things for every athlete. Every time an average NFL player gets hit, he is bound to cause coup and coutrecoup injuries to his brain. Repeated trauma over years of playing, can result in neurological deficits with age. However, a one time hit at or near the knees of a player can result in a career defining injury. To tear the ACL, MCL and PCL at once is a career ender.

Losing Cushing last year to a knee injury was primarily because of aiming low. There is already enough risk for an athlete to sucumb to freak injuries such as "rolled ankles, hamstring pulls, and knee injuries" without contact. While tackling or blocking, these risk are much higher. While I definitely dont agree with making contact with the head or leading with the head, any hit below the neck and above the knees should be legal, and anything above or below these points should be deemed illegal.

 

That used to be the case, but doesn't appear to be so anymore. ACL tears are season-enders, but not remotely career-affecting anymore. Marcus Lattimore tore one ACL and then tore his other ACL/MCL/PCL and dislocated his knee. Then he was drafted in the 4th round.

Modern medicine is making miraculous advances in these types of injuries - not so much with head ones though because no one fully understands the brain.

 

i don't see how Swearinger's tackle is any different than the Dophin's DB tackle on Hopkins' first catch from Keenum. See this vid starting at 36:10 mark.

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the dolphins defender also went low. the only difference is Keller's foot was planted when it was hit.

 

Meh. That's only from the zone blocking scheme. Defensive players hate that. Guys diving at their knees all game long. Not dirty play, it's just a technique/system. I don't think anybody thinks the Texans are low character guys (i.e. out to hurt people, cheap shot artists, etc.).

 

Hmmm, perhaps the waist area?
Perhaps if tackling a shorter guy-say a RB like MJD or Alfred Morris, when one knows one has to go low to tackle, then it might be a good idea to use one's hands and not one's helmet while going low. But that's just me.

Also easy to say when I know that there are a number of other players that do manage to make the same tackle without hitting the head or knee "during" game speed and make a play.

 

It was a little bit different. Hopkins was already running with the ball whereas Keller had just planted his foot on the catch. Plus Keller was a blindside hit whereas Hopkins saw the defender there.

They should really outlaw any hit below the knee and above the shoulders.

 

I'm starting to feel this way, too. I don't really care about "legislating defense out of the game". That just seems to be the whiny refrain from people afraid of change. So what if football becomes a more finesse game? I can do without shattered bones and scrambled brains and appreciate the NFL just fine. I'm also fine with offense being the focal point and the typical score of a game being 35-41. Defense will still matter and have an effect on games, their numbers just won't be as gaudy.

 

honestly, i wonder what kind of ratings an NFL game might get if they went with flag football.

i mean you see the pro bowl ratings and the pre season game ratings. those draw more than NHL stanley cup games. those are for games that don't matter/count, and starters don't play all game.

would changing the game to flag football really end the NFL's reign? sure it would prob take a hit...but is it going to make it the 4th sport behind NBA/MLB/NHL? doubtful.

the focus is already on the offenses with QB's/WR's just let em go out and throw the ball around and put up tons of points.

i mean thats really far outside the box, and would never happen...still i'd just be curious what types of ratings it might get.

 

Probably nitpicking as the end result is just as much in how the WR getting tackled is positioned and where his weight is shifted. But Wilson is a bit higher, and his arms are out so he could wrap up. If someone has the timestamp of DJ's it could help, but from the youtube video I saw, DJ's was lower and more of a shoulder charge tackle. Watching DJ's it looked like he was trying to upend Keller and maybe dislodge the ball from his hitting the ground upside down.

 

Then what is Swearinger supposed to do? Wait for the defender to turn until he makes eye contact? Hopkins could also have had his knees taken out if the defender hit him at the moment his foot was on the ground. It's just a matter of being lucky (or unlucky in Keller's case) to me.

 

He can tackle him between the knees and the shoulders without diving at his lower leg as he's landing. Diving at someone's legs when they're in a position to defend themselves by jumping or changing course is different than diving at someone's legs when they're catching a ball and unable to protect themselves. Keller was a defenseless receiver in effect. He was catching the ball and DJ dove at his lower legs to take him out as he was landing. That's kind of play should be outlawed. I see it happen all the time especially with the DB's and safeties. It's a crap play and it's extremely dangerous.

 

i agree it's dangerous. as a smaller defender though it's hard to take someone larger down without going for their legs. running backs and TEs will just bowl you over.

 

Ripped 'that dumb, idiot rookie' Swearinger, now time to rip Brian Cushing!!

Brian Cushing understands how difficult it is to be on the receiving end of a hit that causes a season-ending injury.

As a defensive player, he also has the opposite perspective.

I asked Cushing today if he's ever delivered a hit that caused a season-ending injury to another player and he said he didn't think he did. But what followed was a thoughtful dissection of the issue that bubbled up again after Texans rookie D.J. Swearinger delivered a legal, but season-ending hit to Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller.

"It’s the nature of the game that we play in," Cushing said. "It’s a very physical sport."

Cushing noted that players in the league are getting "bigger, faster, stronger," which might increase the chance of serious injuries even when a hit is completely legal.

Cushing, who suffered a torn ACL in October, was asked if he thinks the league's emphasis on not hitting high will lead to more lower body injuries.

"Probably," he said. "Probably. And it’s unfortunate. I wish you could find a happy medium between the knee and the head. Guys are so fearful of the fine. The magnitude of number of guys who are getting fined, it’s ridiculous. Obviously guys are staying away from the area, in return guys are being lost for the year. It’s a lose-lose situation. Something needs to be done about that. What? I don’t know."

Link

 

I'm not against them outlawing diving/taking out players at the legs and forcing defenders to wrap up and tackle at the mid-section, but the amount of penalties affecting the outcome of the game would be too much to stand IMO. It's already annoying with so many 15 yd penalties now that change the momentum of a game.

 

Hunters gotta hunt!



http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexan...keeps-hunting-despite-noise-after-keller-hit/

 

NFL to study hits to knees

NEW YORK -- The NFL will keep a close eye on hits to the knees of defenseless players this season, with the possibility of extending the rules protecting such players.

If the league's competition committee finds enough evidence this season that hits to the knees are "becoming a problem," it could take action, chief of football operations Ray Anderson told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The committee could make a recommendation to the owners next March to prohibit direct hits to the knees of defenseless players. The owners would then vote on such a change.

"We are always looking at plays that may elevate themselves and we do include in that category hits on defenseless players," Anderson said. "And certainly the hits to knees to players who have not had the opportunity to protect themselves or are not looking in the direction of where the hit comes from -- we have had a couple hits whereby a player was hit below (or at) the knees."

...

Anderson said the league will monitor plays during the year, study the data when the competition committee begins meeting after the season and see whether such hits to the knees are an "aberration or becoming a problem."

"This issue has not directly come up," Anderson added. "But when we have had discussions when making the head and neck area completely off-limits to players, there was some concern players might lower their targets and might include knees and below. We will look at that going forward."​