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Riotmaker
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: South Burlington, Vermont
Posts: 5,717
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TE Kevin Everetts Emotional Return.
Quote:
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Not many NFL players get to play two games as visitors in the same stadium in one regular season. Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon will. He would just prefer it wasn’t in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“Very excited, very excited,” is how Hixon describes his feelings about Everett’s recovery.
That’s where the Giants will try to clinch a postseason berth when they face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. It was also where Hixon was a central figure in the NFL’s scariest play
of the season. On Sept. 9, Hixon, then playing for the Denver Broncos against the Bills, fielded the second half kickoff at the goal line. When he reached the 20-yard line, he absorbed a jarring hit from backup tight end Kevin Everett. Hixon, a bit dazed, stood up and walked away from the collision.
Everett did not. After many anxious moments, he was strapped onto a stretcher and lifted into an ambulance. The prognosis in the first couple of days was that Everett would never walk again because of a serious neck injury he suffered on the play. Thankfully, that proved to be false and Everett has made an inspirational recovery. On Sunday, he might be in the stadium for the first time since that fateful play.
So will Hixon, who wears a different uniform but harbors the same memories he had when he left Buffalo that day.
“When I first came to the Giants I actually looked at the schedule,” Hixon said today. “I knew that was kind of marked on the schedule for it to be an emotional game and it will be emotional.” Asked what emotions he will be dealing with during the game, Hixon said, “That is something I couldn’t even tell you right now.”
Any dread he might have felt walking into the stadium has been mitigated by Everett’s progress. Everett will never play football again, but he is on track to lead a normal life.
“Very excited, very excited,” is how Hixon describes his feelings about Everett’s recovery. “He still, from what I am hearing, has a little bit to go but I am definitely excited that he is making progress.”
Hixon has not had a chance to speak with Everett since the play. He sent word through intermediaries that he would like to talk with him and that he was praying for Everett’s recovery.
“I hope I do get an opportunity to talk to him if he is there,” Hixon said. “He doesn’t even have to say anything about it, just a casual conversation. I see how he is doing, because I have talked to a lot of his teammates who were with him (at the University of) Miami and they said what a great guy he is. Definitely, I want to talk to him.”
Hixon remembers every detail about his collision with Everett. And he has seen the play on television several times since.
“It was just one of those things where I thought he was going to be blocked, so I wasn’t even looking that way,” Hixon said. “To see that he basically came untouched, that was a little different than I thought.”
Everett had his head lowered when he collided with Hixon. Players are taught to keep their heads up, but sometimes in game instinct takes over. Everett and Hixon came together violently.
“That was probably one of the hardest times I have ever been hit,” Hixon said. “Even when I was getting up I was dazed and my shoulder felt funny and I was just like, ‘Dang, that was a hard hit.’”
As Hixon headed back to the Denver bench, the stadium became eerily quiet. Everett was lying on the field, unable to move.
“One of my teammates was like, ‘He is not getting up,’” Hixon said. “I turned around and immediately I was just waiting for him to get up. When they brought the ambulance out, that was when I was hoping it was more precautionary than anything else.
“It was one of those things where it felt real fake the whole game. Even when I went home and saw it on TV I still couldn’t believe it. After a couple days it really hit me that it did happen and it just felt unreal. That is just something you don’t want to be involved it.”
Hixon admits the injury affected him when he returned to the field. He was averaging 22.8 yards on 12 kickoff returns and 4.6 yards on seven punt returns when the Broncos released him.
“I looked back and looked at some film with the way that I played after and that wasn’t me, that wasn’t how I played,” Hixon said. “Did that affect me? Yes. I would like to say that you try not to let it affect you, but it did. I look back at film and just the way I was running I just looked tentative, like I was second guessing every time. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, but looking back now I just looked real tentative.”
One of Hixon’s positions on the Giants is gunner on the punt team. When Jeff Feagles kicks the ball, Hixon has to run down the field with controlled abandon and pursue the punt returner. In other words, he has to mimic what Everett was doing when he hurt his neck.
“It is one of those things that is your job,” Hixon said. “They expect you to do your job on the field so that is what I am trying to do. The thing is that you just want to make the tackle. It is kind of like whatever it takes. It would be nice to form up the right way every time but a lot of times that is not going to happen. You are just trying to make the tackle.”
That’s what Hixon will concentrate on doing to Buffalo on Sunday. But he’ll also take a few moments to think about Kevin Everett.
“It is definitely a blessing and he just keeps on progressing,” Hixon said. “I am very encouraged. The first time that I actually heard that he was able to walk and when he moved home and got back to Houston with his family, I was just thrilled and excited and I am still praying for him.”
NOTES
*The Giants and Bills each had just one player selected to the Pro Bowl – and they engage in a head-to-head battle on Sunday. Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora will try to add to his team-leading 12.0 sacks at the expense of Buffalo left tackle Jason Peters.
“Am I looking forward to it? I guess you could say that,” Umenyiora said. “I don’t back away from any challenge, especially something like that. He is an outstanding player, he has had a very, very good year. I feel like I have had a pretty good year myself, so I think it is going to be a nice little matchup between me and him.”
Umenyiora disputed a suggestion that their matchup will determine which player is more Pro Bowl-worthy.
“Not really, because for the most part I am going to be lined up there by myself,” he said. “But I guarantee they won’t leave him by himself the whole game. You can’t say that it is a one-on-one match; it is not going to be like that.”
Peters, a fourth-year pro, was something of an unknown when he joined the Bills. He was not drafted after playing tight end at the University of Arkansas.
“I played against him in college,” said Umenyiora, who played at Troy State (now Troy University). “He was a tight end back then. He was lined up next to (current Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl guard) Shawn Andrews. Shawn Andrews was a tackle, and he (Peters) was like the biggest tight end I have ever seen back then. He was like 310 pounds. Right now he is about 340 pounds, so I know he has all the athleticism. I think it is going to be fun.”
Umenyiora had mixed feelings about his Pro Bowl selection.
“It is bittersweet, I guess,” he said. “I am happy I made it, it is a great accomplishment, my peers are recognizing me for some of the things that I have done. But it is a little bitter because I feel like there is no possible way that I am the only Pro Bowler on this team. A couple of our players got overlooked, but I guess that is part of it.”
*Five Giants did not practice: Wide receivers Plaxico Burress (ankle), Sinorice Moss (back) and David Tyree (personal reasons), cornerback Kevin Dockery (hip flexor) and defensive tackle Manny Wright (ankle). Safeties Gibril Wilson (knee) and James Butler (hamstring) were limited. Running back Brandon Jacobs (hamstring), tackle Kareem McKenzie (illness) and defensive end Justin Tuck (neck) participated fully.
*The Giants again practiced on the Giants Stadium field.
“The practices have been pretty good,” Coach Tom Coughlin said. “It has been pretty good outside. We have had two really nice days – 40 degrees, sunshine, beautiful. Probably not enough wind that we need. But today was better and I think every day we work we are better.
“I think they are practicing well and I think they are enjoying the week, to be honest with you. And they are looking forward to playing. I think they had some fun today in practice. They were very lively, energetic.”
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Maybe some motivation to play well.
http://www.giants.com/news/eisen/sto...story_id=26414
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TE Kevin Everetts Emotional Return.
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