I saw first hand the impact of the Injury

[Reginald Rutledge]

In the NFLGTSL, it is a star system-based league where the most dominate players have more weight and better bases. Because of the enormity of a 32 team league and 40 players, you have to spread the wealth.

One of the things I was so looking forward to was the impact of injuries during a football game. You know, when I played the game between Dallas and SF, Jerry Rice got injured for 6 weeks on a 4th down play. Little did I know I would suffer critique from people who called me on my house phone, asking "How could this have happened?", or even in emails that his injury could have and should have been avoided. To me, that was the highest compliment. There were actually people out there who cared about what the heck I was doing.

Fast forward to the Baltimore v. Miami game and Manny Fernandez goes down. He's one of the Dolphins best DL. As a matter of fact, he was playing NT in the 3-4. I saw first hand what the impact of his injury was to the Dolphins.

Before his injury, Lenny Moore was doing pretty good but then, the offense really went on a tear. Here are some of Lenny Moore's run summaries after the injury to Fernandez.

48. Berry, 19 pass from Unitas (PAT)/Injury to defense. Manny Fernandez, season ending injury - HE'S DONE
53. Moore, -1 yd/Den Herder.
54. Moore, 8 yds.
60. Moore, -1 yds/Heinz.
77. L. Moore, 23 yds/Buoniconti, 7 play injury to Anderson.
87. L. Moore, 99 TD run (NFLGTSL record) PAT 24-14
99. Moore, 9 yds/Heinz.
100. Moore, 9 yds/Foley
Final Score
Baltimore Colts 31 Miami Dolphins 28


While the stats do not look just overwhelming, Lydell Mitchell was inserted into the game because Ameche got hurt for Baltimore. Right away, Mitchell broke for a 33 yarder. The impact of losing Ameche will be huge for Baltimore but I think, it was crucial in the Dolphins inability to stop the run. Lenny Moore finished with 257 yards rushing on 16 carries, including a 99 yarder. We expected Moore to average 5.5 -6.0 yards rushing but that injury to Fernandez was very important to the Dolphins season, probably moreso than the loss of Ameche (FB) for the Colts.


Two season ending injuries in a single game is as rare as a total eclipse but on this day and in less than a quarter, two star players go down. I love such an impact in a football game. How do these teams recover from such a devastating loss? We will see.

Reg