INDIANAPOLIS — Years ago, early in his NFL career, Matt Slauson told his wife, Cami, there were only three types of injuries that would make him stop, think, and seriously weigh his football future: His head, his neck, or his back.
Now that it's become his reality, he can’t stop dwelling on how much worse it could have been.
It was six days ago in Gillette Stadium, amidst the Colts’ 38-24 loss to the Patriots, that Slauson broke two vertebrae in his spine early in the third quarter. He remained in the game, lining up for all 83 of the team’s offensive snaps and five more on special teams. "Just tough as nails," coach Frank Reich said.
At the time, in the moment, as the Colts staged a gutsy rally that would get them within seven points early in fourth quarter, Slauson remained oblivious to the severity of what was at stake and the gamble he was taking.
“I felt like if I could stand,” he remembers, “I could play.”
So he did, telling the coaches on the sideline he was OK to play. And now he’s left to grapple with all he’s learned in recent days, and how close he could have come to a career-ending injury – or worse.
Much, much worse.
This wasn’t a broken leg or a torn ACL. This was a serious back injury that could have left Slauson in a wheelchair.
“I had no idea how close I was to changing my family’s life,” he said.
To this he’s asked if there was a chance – one awkward fall, one nasty hit – he could’ve been paralyzed. Slauson nods.
Source: Read Full Article