Warning: Distressing content
Chicago Bears’ tight end, Zach Miller, suffered a scary season-ending leg injury last night in their game with the New Orleans Saints. There’s even suggestions he may lose his leg.
The Bears’ tight end was on the receiving end of, what could be, a career-ending injury, when he broke his leg after landing awkwardly.
Just a heads up, this isn’t pretty:
It happened when his teammate, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, launched a long pass towards Miller, who was running towards the endzone.
Miller leapt up in the air to catch the pigskin and scored – what everyone thought – was a touchdown.
As it turned out, it was Miller’s last contribution to the game – he landed awkwardly on his left leg as he caught the ball, which caused it to bend as he fell to the floor.
The 33-year-old was rushed to hospital where the medical staff assessed the damage and confirmed he’d dislocated his knee.
However upon further inspection from medical staff the injury looks to be much worse than originally feared.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune the footballer has sustained a tear in two ligaments and will have to be checked for possible artery damage.
Speaking on Twitter, Dr David Chao said Miller’s injury was a ‘true accident’ which required ‘early action’ to save his leg.
As if the injury wasn’t bad enough, Miller’s efforts were in vain as the referee ruled out the touchdown as he deemed it an incomplete pass.
The Bear’s went onto lose to the Saint’s, 20-12 .
In a post-game tweet from the Bear’s Twitter account, coach John Fox confirmed Miller’s injury:
Speaking to the Chicago Tribune after the game, Trubisky said:
Zach means a lot to this team beyond the X’s and O’s and what he brings to the field but what he brings to us as a person.
Specifically how much he has helped me grow in this process.
You never want to see a teammate go down like that.
Bears’ right guard, Kyle Long, added:
It’s brutal, gruesome. I didn’t watch it after I saw it the first time.
To go from the elation of, ‘What a play, what a throw!’ in that situation of the game to overturn (the touchdown call) and Zach obviously being injured … it’s really unfortunate.
We lost a really good guy today.
According to ESPN, vascular surgeons were brought in to restore Miller’s leg, this included grafting tissue from his other to repair the damaged artery.
This year has now seen three gruesome leg injuries in sport; the aforementioned Zach Miller, Everton’s Seamus Coleman – who was injured while on international duty for the Republic of Ireland and Boston Celtic’s small forward Gordon Hayward, who broke his left ankle this month after trying to stuff an alley-oop.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Zach Miller and his family we’re wishing him a speedy recovery and a swift return to the gridiron.
