New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara tried to make the best of a bad situation this week, gifting the NFL official who dislocated his knee on Sunday with a signed ball and jersey. Nick Piazza, who was working the sideline amid the Saints-Lions game, couldn’t move out of the way fast enough as Kamara tumbled into him with significant force. Piazza had to take a cart off the field before going to a local hospital for treatment on his dislocated knee.
Reporter Jeff Duncan shared an image of Piazza with his new Saints gear. The NFL official is grinning in the photo, despite the full-leg brace on his left leg. He also shared with Duncan that New Orleans team owner Gayle Benson also reached out personally to check up on him.
“I really appreciate the messages, care packages and medical treatment. And, if you see Alvin, please tell him thanks,” Piazza told Duncan. “He signed a football and jersey for me. Very nice.”
The official will have to miss work for a couple of months as he recovers, which means he likely won’t get back on the sideline until next season.
The injury on Sunday is a reminder that football is a dangerous game — even for those not actively playing. Pittsburgh Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith reminded fans of that fact just two weeks ago. He suffered a torn rotator cuff after a sideline collision in the Steelers’ win over the Green Bay Packers.
The coach who’s been with the team since 2013 needed surgery to repair his shoulder. He revealed to reporters that the collision was one of the hardest hits he’s ever taken. That includes his years as a defensive back in college. In fact, most of the injuries in his life have come as a sideline spectator – not as a player.
“I’ve been hit a lot, and been hit hard,” Smith said, via ESPN. “I got a lot of metal in my body over that. I got to learn to get the hell out of the way.
“Got hit in college in a Clemson-Georgia Tech game. Got a tibial plateau fracture, got a plate and six screws in my knee. I had that hit at training camp with [Antonio Brown] when I broke my ribs and my L1 vertebrae in my back. This one hurt.”
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