If you’re a football fan, you’re probably aware that Green Bay Packers receiver Jordy Nelson had a nasty fall in yesterday’s preseason game that resulted in a possible torn ACL. Nelson could be out for the season, a loss that would seriously hurt the Packers’ chances of making it to the Super Bowl.
Is there something the NFL should be doing to prevent these sorts of injuries, like a shorter preseason?
Absolutely not, says Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin. He knows why Nelson got injured: God did it.
“I hated Jordy got hurt, but in my beliefs, and the way I believe, it was — God meant for Jordy to get hurt,” said Quin, a devoted Christian. “So if he wouldn’t have got hurt today, if he wouldn’t have played in that game, if he wouldn’t have practiced anymore, and the next time he walked on the field would have been opening day, I feel like he would have got hurt opening day.
Riiiight. God has it in for Nelson, says the guy from Detroit, a city God gave up on years ago. (Then again, after the way the Packers ended last season, maybe God does hate Green Bay…)
It says a lot about Christian beliefs when a devout believer claims his Lord’s plan all along was to hurt someone. If that’s true, then God’s a dick. Were the starving children in Africa not enough to satisfy his lust for ruining lives?
By the way, if you saw the replay of Nelson’s injury, it didn’t look bad at first. It was one of those freak accidents that sometimes happens in sports. You can’t really prevent it from happening. Nelson just came down the wrong way after jumping for a ball.
The same sort of thing happened to Derrick Rose a few seasons ago in a Bulls playoff game:
It’s frustrating for the team, the fans, and the player involved. But it’s one of the risks you take when playing a sport at that level.
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk asks some fair questions in terms of how far we should take Quin’s theology:
Quin is entitled to believe that God decides everything that will happen on a football field, but if we follow his logic, where do we stop? Should the NFL not bother with any player safety rules because God will decide which players get hurt? Should NFL teams not bother having doctors on the sidelines because God will decide which players to heal?
I would love to see Quin explain how he would play without any safety gear if the league allowed it.
(Image via Allison Herreid / Shutterstock.com. Thanks to Casey for the link)
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."