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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2020)
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 NFL legend Sayers dies at 77 What a pain: Injuries take a toll on NFL during week 2 For football fans, every autumn Sunday is the same, normal routine. We wake up, prepare some of our favorite snacks, throw some protein on a grill, and fi rmly plant ourselves in a comfortable seat. But com- fortable is the worst adjective to describe this past Sunday, Sept. 20. Watching some of the NFL games that day was just painful. It all started with the fi rst round of games that kicked off at 10 a.m. PDT. The New York Jets were hosting the San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium to begin this injury-plagued week with a bang. In the fi rst half, the 49ers lost reigning NFL defensive rookie of the year Nick Bosa and former fi rst round pick Solomon Thomas to knee injuries back-to- back. On the offensive side of the ball, two of the 49ers stars, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Raheem Mostert were unable to return to the fi eld in the second half due to injuries as well. The Jets-49ers game made the biggest contribution to the injury list Sunday, as be- tween them the teams had 10 players go down. A lot of these injuries are being attributed to the turf at MetLife, and COREY KIRK the NFL will be investigating the condition of the newly installed artifi cial turf. In games elsewhere we got to see two of the league’s top running backs go down with major injuries as well. While on the road at Tam- pa Bay, the Carolina Panthers lost their offensive spark- plug, Christian McCaffrey. After rushing for Carolina’s only two touchdowns in the contest, McCaffrey suffered a high ankle sprain that is destined to sideline him for at least the next month. Early on in a game against the Chicago Bears, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley went down with a knee injury after being tackled on the sidelines, and he will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Barkley is just one of the four players who suffered torn ACLs Sunday, while more results of other players’ pos- sible season-ending injuries continue to come in this week. As the injury toll mounted Sunday, I couldn’t wrap my mind around witnessing all of this physical devastation. Everyone knows football is physical and that injuries are common. But in this unprec- edented year the NFL had no preseason games due to the coronavirus pandemic. With that lack of competition against other teams prior to the regular season, players are ironing out the kinks dur- ing regular games, and that often leads to more frequent injuries. The last time NFL fans had their routine disrupted severely was back in 2011 when the NFL was going through its lockout. Back then, we saw a fl urry of devastating injuries hap- pening all across the league, including 10 Achilles tendon ruptures in the fi rst 12 days of training camp. This shows how important preparation is for the physical grind of a 17-week season. Will this past week infl u- ence the rest of the season? Absolutely. Teams are relying on their backups to step up until their starters can return. In some cases the reserves will be fi rst-string the rest of the year. When I refl ect back on this past week of football, I am go- ing to remember the impact the long list of injuries made on many teams. And I’ll probably also gri- mace in recollection. CHICAGO (AP) — Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, who made his mark as one of the NFL’s best all-purpose running backs and was later celebrated for his enduring friendship with a Chicago Bears team- mate with cancer, has died. He was 77. Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-fi eld run- ners the game has ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Relatives of Sayers had said he was diagnosed with dementia. In March 2017, his wife, Ardythe, said she partly blamed his football career. Sayers was a blur to NFL defenses, ghosting would-be tacklers or zooming by them like few running backs or kick returners before or since. Yet it was his rock-steady friendship with Brian Piccolo, depicted in the fi lm “Brian’s Song,” that marked him as more than a sports star. Phil Mascione / Chicago Tribune-TNS/File The Chicago Bears’ Gale Sayers, 1967. Sayers died Wednesday at age 77. 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