A collective gasp could be heard throughout New England on Sunday, as a prized NFL quarterback had left the Gillette Stadium turf with a worrisome injury. Yes, Chiefs QB Brodie Croyle was knocked out of the game with a sore shoulder.
After a 3rd quarter sack by Pats LB Adalius Thomas, Croyle came up favoring his right shoulder. It was soon revealed that Brodie had suffered a shoulder bruise, and was replaced by Damon Huard. Such a sad loss to the football word.
Oh, and Tom Brady got hurt, too.
John Tomase of the BOSTON HERALD describes what happened to 2007’s near-perfect Pats QB in his first game of 2008 action:
With 7:27 left to play in the opening quarter, Brady had just delivered a 26-yard-pass to Randy Moss when he was hit low by the Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard. Brady went down and stayed down, clutching his left knee. After being attended to by the training staff, he was helped off the field, favoring his left knee in the process.
Brady was removed from the field area for further examination. He did not return.
Little-used Matt Cassel came in and did manage to lead the Pats on a touchdown drive, but not much else. However, it was enough - Huard’s last-minute 4th & goal pass fell incomplete, and New England held on for a 17-10 win over KC.
If there is one positive for both Brady & Brodie, at least they’ll be nursed back to health by their respective beauties:
Having Gisele Bundchen & Kelli Croyle at your bedside can make any guy feel a whole lot better.
4:11 pm on September 7th, 2008
Amazing, really, even with Brady out, that the Chiefs were able to get a 1st and goal from the 5 to tie the game. Less amazing is the fact that even the Patriots aging defense was able to stop them from gaining even one yard. Or maybe it was more a case of the Chiefs not being able to beat that aging defense…I wasn’t able to actually see the game, unfortunately. I was being rivited to my seat by a Dolphins team that almost came back to beat Favre and the J-E-T-S.
4:24 am on September 8th, 2008
Yeah, whatever. The Chiefs are (marginally) better with Huard at the reins anyway. I’d say the longer the injury to Croyle, the better for KC.