We’ve seen a lot of wild athlete injury stories that made people miss games over the years.
Sammy Sosa sneezed and sprained a ligament in his back. Joba Chamberlain suffered an ankle injury after jumping on a trampoline. Pitcher Joel Zumaya hurt his wrist playing too much Guitar Hero. Soccer player Kirk Broadfoot scalded his face when an egg exploded in his face. Who can forget catcher Brent Mayne who suffered back spasms after looking both ways before crossing the street? And what about Lionel Simmons, who developed tendinitis trying to set a high score on Nintendo Game Boy.
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was added to the injury report for this weekend’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. A surprise addition to the report, Griffen was listed as “out” with a concussion.
As for how it happened, it had nothing to do with football. In fact, as head coach Mike Zimmer explained to reporters, it had more to do with a pesky deer crossing the road.
Everson Griffen was involved in a car accident on his way into the practice facility on Thursday. Mike Zimmer said the DE swerved to miss a deer in the road. It’s why he showed up on the injury report with a concussion.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) September 17, 2021
Thankfully Griffen was able to avoid further injury or worse. While a concussion is no joke, it could have been a lot worse. It also sounds like good news for the deer, too.
Andre Patterson was a big fan of Everson Griffen’s rush on Michael Pierce’s second sack.
“It was a patented Griff rush. Mike beat the guy clean, but Griff did a great job of collapsing the pocket from that side so the quarterback had nowhere to escape.”pic.twitter.com/vu3fYeZ2U0
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) September 15, 2021
Hopefully, the 33-year-old will be back out there for the Vikings soon. The team looks to avoid dropping to 0-2 this weekend and they could certainly use the veteran out there to help get them back on track. He’s presumably patched things up with Kirk Cousins and Vikings fans would love to see him celebrating touchdowns soon.
Everson Griffen's reaction to the Stefon Diggs touchdown is must-see 😂😲 (via @insidetheNFL) pic.twitter.com/mwubc9csxV
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 16, 2018
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.