Wilson's Injury May Work Out Well
5 comments so far
April 4, 2007 by
Kenny Wilson had to be disappointed, if not heartbroken, when he broke his femur last week. Already working to overcome a previous injury, the broken bone will now cause him to miss all of the 2007 season. With only one year of playing eligibility remaining, the injury will in all likelihood keep him in college an extra year.
If recruiting rankings are to be believed, Wilson had NFL potential. But in order to become a pro football player, Wilson first needs to prove himself at the Division I-A level. Even before the broken bone, that was in some doubt as Wilson had plenty of competition for playing time. Marlon Lucky seemed likely to become the starting running back for 2007 and Cody Glenn had been higher on the depth chart than Wilson in 2006 as well. That means Wilson could well have been third-string next fall. With Marcus Mendoza and Major Culbert in the mix, plus two freshman joining the backfield in the fall, even third string was no guarantee for Wilson.
No one's said it out loud, but you have to wonder if Marlon Lucky might depart for the NFL if he can put up some big numbers in 2007. The same might be true for Glenn if he delivers a standout performance. A departure by one of these players at the top of the depth chart could make Wilson a prime candidate to pick up carries in that case in 2008.
So it's not inconceivable that Wilson will have brighter pro prospects by keeping his eligibility for 2008 than if he'd played (perhaps somewhat sparingly) in 2007. There are no guarantees, of course. The three backs recruited in 2007 along with any that join the class of 2008 are going to compete for carries. But none of them (that we know of so far) came to Nebraska as highly touted as Marlon Lucky.
Of course, another overlooked benefit of an extra year for Wilson will be an extra year to finish his degree. If Wilson does not make it as a pro prospect, that may be extremely valuable for him in the future. So while you genuinely feel bad for Wilson, it's not hard to think that this storm cloud just might have a silver lining.
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Brad Apr 04 07
I hope you're right, but I don't know that this is an injury he will completely recover from so quickly, if at all. Between the bone infection and subsequent fracture, I tend to doubt he will be suiting up again, and if he does I worry that he won't be the same (like Herian).
Once again though, I hope you're right.
On a side note, why are you guys avoiding the golf-tournament issue? The rift it is bringing to the surface is easily the biggest issue in Husker football right now. All the fans are talking about it, but none of the media seems to want to touch it.
Steve Apr 04 07
I haven't caught much detail yet about Wilson's injury. Some femur breaks can take less than a year to come back from. So spring football in 2008 would seem possible if he had one of the more benign ones.
As for the golf issue, look for something soon from BRN.
Tyler Apr 04 07
I'm not a medical expert by any means, I'm just a lowly history major, but from what I've read and seen, its rare for someone to break their femur and ever recover to play athletics at a high level of competition again. I'm still wondering how you break the strongest bone in the body by carrying a TV? Has anybody heard any details on this?
Brad Apr 04 07
Tyler,
I heard they had to drill a hole in his femur in the course of treating his bone infection. If true, he shouldn't have been carrying the tv.
Bart Apr 05 07
They likely didn't drill a hole but, had to debride away any of the infected bone, possibley creating a defect. Bone forming in actively infected areas is often weak anyhow for some time. Time to functional athletic recovery is at least one year from injury of a long bone fracture, if he is smart he will just sit the year out. See Matt Harian for example, it is a very difficult recovery, the fracture heals but you are a long ways off from competing at a D-1 level long after the fracture heals. "trust me I'm a doctor"