Injuries are par for the course when it comes to sports. However, some injuries can alter a season and make a team go from being a contender to hoping they will make the playoffs. When you look at the four major sports, the competition that sees this nightly is the NFL.
This is shown most recently during Training Camp this past Summer as both the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings saw their starting Quarterbacks go down with pretty nasty injuries that will keep them both out for a while. It was a few weeks ago that the Dallas Cowboys saw Tony Romo suffer a serve back injury during their preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. The next day, ESPN was reporting that Tony Romo had a broken bone in his back and would be out 6-10 weeks. The latest that Dallas can expect their franchise QB back is Week 10 against Pittsburgh. Due to Tony Romo being injured, Dallas will now be starting rookie Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott is still a huge project and one that will take the time to mature.
While Tony Romo should hopefully be back this season for Dallas, you can’t say the same for Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings. A few days before their final preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Vikings had a major scare at practice. During one of their practices, Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater ended up destroying his leg as he tore his ACL and destroyed his knee. He is not expected even to return to the field 12 months from now.
Like the Cowboys who were expected to win the NFC East before Tony Romo injury, the Vikings were scheduled to win the NFC North and even make a run in the playoffs. Unlike the Cowboys who have a starter as they begin their 2016 season, you can not say the same for the Vikings who as of this writing still don’t know who is their starter.
These two injuries are prime examples of Quarterbacks whose injuries can alter a season. What teams should try to do is have a backup QB that is a veteran or a journeyman. I feel that a team should do this because then there is still hope for the team. I am not sure what hope there is for the Cowboys and Vikings. The Vikings are still a week away from the start of the 2016 season and still don’t have a leader. On the other side, the Cowboys are going into the 2016 season with an unproven talent.
Overall, while injures are a part of sports as a whole, teams should try to help their leaders on the team in any way or shape. Also, it should be noted that injuries in sports are not on purpose they can still try to be avoided.