On Sunday night, Seahawks rookie running back Chris Carson suffered an ankle injury that may have made fans with a weaker stomach turn away when NBC opted to replay it. Here's a clip that's mild by comparison, while still allowing you to see what exactly went down:
After team doctors rushed onto the field to diagnose the issue, Carson was put into an air cast before (eventually) being carted off. He'll probably miss an extensive amount of time which is a problem for Seahawks fans, fantasy football "owners" who have the 23-year-old 7th round pick on their team, and (most of all) Carson himself.
After the game, Richard Sherman, who's never been shy about voicing his opinion, touched on that previous sentence by stating his belief that fantasy football is to blame for the general lack of sympathy fans have towards injured NFL players.
"I think a lot of people, a lot of fans out there have looked at players even less like people because of fantasy football and things like that," Sherman said, when asked about the impact injuries have on a hurt player's teammates. "You go and say, 'Oh man, this guy got hurt.' You're not thinking, 'Hey man, this guy got hurt—he's really physically hurt and he's going to take time to recover and it's probably going to affect his mental state and his physical state and now he has a long, rigorous rehab.' You're thinking, 'Oh, man, he's messing up my fantasy team.'"
Sherman also went on to say that this could be the reason some players have publicly stated they don't give a crap about your fantasy team.
"I think that's why you see the frustration from a lot of players saying they don't care about your fantasy team," he continued. "They don't care about how it affects your fantasy team because these are real players, this is real life. This is real life and this is their real job and that's affecting their well-being.
"Now, your fantasy team may not win, and hey, guess what, you'll live the next day. This is their well-being. They may not ever get another shot. They may never get another down, another play. And I think that's why it's so devastating for players. Thankfully, I don't think [Carson's injury is] as serious as we first thought, hopefully, God willing. Trying to be optimistic in this situation."
Finally, Sherman shared his belief that processing these types of injuries is much more difficult when you know someone personally. "It's terrible when you see things like that because we know these guys personally," he said. "A lot of times the fans know us from the surface and wear 32 [Carson's number] and he's running the ball and he's doing great for my team, but they don't think about the effects that an injury will have to a guy's mental capacity and what his family and what his mom and girlfriend and wife might be going through."
That's a pretty in-depth answer on a subject that is unlikely to change the mind of most fantasy fans, but might make a few look at things differently. It also probably extends to sports in general (most people don't think too much about injuries unless it's a key player that might derail the season) but may be intensified by fiercely competitive fantasy types. Needless to say, there was probably some build-up on that topic since the original question wasn't really about rotisserie leagues.
Also pretty sure he meant his girlfriend or wife on that last part, but with pro athletes you never know.
