From time to time in pro sports, bizarre tales emerge of unusual injuries suffered by athletes. On many occasions, the official story isn’t the true story, whether it’s guys tripping over dogs or falling down the steps or slipping on a McDonald’s bag.
The history of misdirection results in skepticism whenever reports emerge of an athlete being injured in an odd way. The latest example comes from Vikings quarterback Taylor Heinicke.
Officially, Heinicke severed a tendon in his foot while kicking in a window in an effort to help a friend get back into his apartment. Officially, "[t]here was no foul play or substance abuse involved in the incident.”
It’s entirely possible that the official version is true. If so, it was the culmination of a chain of stupid decisions. Who kicks in a window with their foot? Surely, there were other ways to break it that didn’t involve exposing the foot of a pro athlete to shards of broken glass.
And so Heinicke will be on the NFI list, at least for camp and possibly into the regular season. The Vikings can choose not to pay his salary. They also may ultimately decide that they’re going to look elsewhere for young quarterbacks to groom as the backup(s) to Teddy Bridgewater.