Damn, Dre Greenlaw. The San Francisco 49ers linebacker is such a key cog in the team’s defense, and arguably forms the best tandem at his position alongside Fred Warner.
A lot of excitement buzzed through Allegiant Stadium when the Chiefs nearly fumbled away a punt return, and Greenlaw was seeing it all unfold on the sidelines. Unfortunately, he took a false, explosive step toward the field once the 49ers were about to go back on for their next defensive series, only to injury his Achilles, per the CBS broadcast.
Jim Nantz came out of a commercial break, and said something like, “You won’t believe what just happened.” I assumed it was the dust-up on the sideline between Travis Kelce and Andy Reid. Instead, they cut to this seemingly harmless shot of Greenlaw and several of his teammates getting ready to go back out.
Then, Greenlaw crumbled to the turf in agony, and soon after, a cart came out to get him.
First of all, yo, can we get a bigger cart for this man? He’s listed at six feet, 230 pounds. Those are some damn cumbersome quarters. It’s not like there’s a lack of money flying about Las Vegas, and business is booming at Allegiant Stadium in particular this Super Bowl Sunday.
Ugh. Imagine getting carted off the field in the freaking Super Bowl and not being able to move. Wouldn’t you want to, like, extend Greenlaw’s leg out? I don’t know. Seems like there should be a little more attention to detail and buttoned-up preparation for potential injuries in a professional football game — never mind the Super Bowl.
As you’d expect, everyone who has a soul and/or a shred of human decency is devastated for Greenlaw.
Even worse is, this couldn’t have happened later in the season to Greenlaw. It’ll take his entire offseason, plus probably a handful of games at least in the 2024 season, just for him to get cleared to play again. What a bummer. You always hate to see injuries in any context. This one hits especially hard for one of the premier linebackers in the sport.
