Somewhat scary to interview for news story
Whitney Sant
Projected starting tight-end for the Utah State football team, Rob Meyers, has been sitting out the last week of spring practice after being injured April 8. Meyer’s absence on the field in the annual “Blue and White” spring scrimmage, held today at the Romney stadium, has teammates and coaches looking forward to his recovery.
The 22-year-old junior, originally from Texas, woke up the morning after Tuesdays spring practice to a completely swollen knee, unable to walk. The injury occurred when Meyer’s knee made impact with another player’s helmet during a practice play Tuesday night.
“Initially I could tell something was wrong” said Meyers about the blow to his knee “I went in one more play after it happened and struggled to make it back to the sideline.”
Meyers told that other team members transported him to the hospital the next morning, where he stayed for several hours. According to doctors, Meyers suffered from a ruptured bursa sack in his left knee.
Meyers said that doctors were unable to drain the fluid build up with the standard procedure of sticking a needle under the knee cap to retrieve the liquid. Instead, he said, “they basically had to cut my knee open and push the fluid out, it was that swollen.”
According to one Utah State coach, they are staying positive about Meyer’s injury. “We were happy to find out that it is just a bursa sack injury,” Aggies tight-end coach, Tracy Smith said “He got a lot out of the spring practices before this occurred. We hope he can remain healthy and look forward to his team contribution since he has a good amount of time to recover until the fall season begins.”
Meyers is scheduled to stay on crutches until April 14, the day his stitches also come out. “If it had to happen (the injury), it came at a right time, I would rather sit out now than in the season,” said Meyers “Although, I am anxious to be back to full speed.
The Aggies 4 week spring practice schedule, where they have practice for at least 3 hours a day, with only Wednesday off, has caused several injuries among the team.
Other teammates injured include; Xavier Bowman, with a possible meniscus tear, Jacob Atkinson, with two centimeters of bone missing from his left shoulder, and Dervin Speight, with a strained Achilles tendon.
“Injuries are always going to occur when you are going as hard as we do everyday,” said long snapper Patrick Scales “We just have to rise up as a team and overcome them.”
The Utah State football team ended spring practice today and will have until June. 2 to recuperate from fatigue and injuries. By then, players such as Meyers say they hope to be fully recovered for the 2008 season.
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3 comments:
The Hard News Cafe would like to publish this, after tweaking the time element.
If you would like to have it published on the Hard News Cafe, please edit it and send it to kcowweb@hass.usu.edu
thanks.
..Mike Sweeney
Here's my edit, Whitney. I've sent it to KCOW. If you get any updates on his condition, tell Mike Sweeney (mike.sweeney@usu.edu)
TP
Spring practice bangs up football Aggies
By Whitney Sant
The Aggies’ presumptive starting tight-end, Rob Meyers, has been taking it easy since injuring his knee in scrimmage last week.
He was missed during the football squad’s annual Blue and White spring scrimmage at Romney Stadium, and Meyers’s teammates and coaches are looking forward to his recovery.
The 22-year-old junior from Texas woke up Wednesday morning with a completely swollen knee, unable to walk. The injury occurred when his knee hit another player’s helmet during practice Tuesday night.
“I could tell something was wrong,” he said. “I went in for one more play after it happened and struggled to make it back to the sideline.”
The next morning, his teammates took Meyers to the hospital, where he stayed for several hours. His doctors said Meyers had a ruptured bursa sack in his left knee.
Unable to drain the fluid buildup in his knee with the standard procedure of sticking a needle under the kneecap, Meyers said, the doctors “basically had to cut my knee open and push the fluid out. It was that swollen.”
Despite the loss of their starting tight-end for the Blue and White spring scrimmage last weekend, the Aggie football coaching staff is staying positive about Meyers’s injury and optimistic about his recovery for the fall season.
“We were happy to find out that it is just a bursa sack injury,” Aggies tight-end coach Tracy Smith said. “He got a lot out of the spring practices before this occurred. We hope he can remain healthy and look forward to his team contribution since he has a good amount of time to recover until the fall season begins.”
Doctors have ordered Meyers to stay on crutches until this week, when his stitches come out.
“If it had to happen, it came at a right time,” Meyers said. “I would rather sit out now than in the season, although I am anxious to be back to full speed.
Meyers isn’t the only injury after the Aggies’ four-week spring schedule, which meant practice three hours a day with only Wednesdays off.
Also on the sidelines with Meyers are Xavier Bowman, with a possible meniscus tear; Jacob Atkinson, with two centimeters of bone missing from his left shoulder, and Dervin Speight, with a strained Achilles tendon.
“Injuries are always going to occur when you are going as hard as we do everyday,” said long snapper Patrick Scales. “We just have to rise up as a team and overcome them.”
The Utah State football team ended spring practice last weekend and will have until June 2 to recuperate.
TP
Good work on your story! You even have the hard news cafe after it!
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