Just to put it in perspective...
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Smith Escapes Serious Injury From Last Second Play
by Andrew Mason, DenverBroncos.com
Rod Smith
CBS4
(CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) HONOLULU Moments after Sunday's Pro Bowl, Rod Smith sat in front of his locker deep below the Aloha Stadium grandstands, a deep gash visible just outside his left eye.
A few minutes earlier, he lay on the artificial surface, blood streaming down his cheeks, his fall to the turf having caused the hearts of Broncos followers to stop. The injury proved not to be serious, leaving Smith musing not about the pain he felt, but about the downfield catch he nearly made, which could have given the AFC All-Stars a chance to avoid the 23-17 loss.
"I just wish I could have made that one," Smith said. "It would have given us a better chance.
"I just wanted to make that play for my teammates. They're the best in the business at what they do and I want to always give us a chance to win the game."
But Smith came up achingly short, the football glancing off the edges of his fingertips.
After he landed on the field following his lunge for Steve McNair's pass, Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams swooped in, providing just enough of a jar to cause the injury.
"When I hit the ground, I think somebody fell on top of me," Smith said. "I just ended up with my helmet kind of twisting and it hit me in the eye. I ended up with a cut."
The Broncos' medical staff rushed to Smith's aid as he lay on the turf. Linebacker Al Wilson and Head Coach Mike Shanahan followed soon after to check on the long-time captain.
When Wilson arrived and saw his teammate, his fears subsided.
"I knew he was all right," Wilson said. "It's just the game of football. You get dinged, you get banged up."
Added cornerback Champ Bailey: "One thing you hate is for anybody on either team to get hurt -- especially one of my teammates during the season. We need him.
"I was just glad to see him get up."
Smith's tumble was the only one of the afternoon that stunned the sold-out Aloha Stadium crowd into silence. It was also the most dramatic evidence of the intensity with which the game was played. The defenses were hamstrung by limitations on blitzing and stunting; a linebacker being "out of the box" -- a term more germane to Arena Football than the NFL -- yielded a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Yet in spite of the restrictions, they forced 10 turnovers.
And even in a game where the overriding goal is to make sure every player returns to his team healthy, there's going to be collisions, and some might be rough. It's the nature of the sport.
"You can only play the game of football so slow," Wilson said. "Once you get out there and get going, the adrenaline takes over and your mentality takes over as far as how you play the game. We knew it was going to be like that."
Added Smith: "Once I put the mouthpiece in my mouth, it's for real."
And with 22 seconds left before the game's conclusion, Smith and the Broncos learned first-hand just how real the Pro Bowl can get.
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