Bears DE Lamarr Houston Out For Season After Tearing ACL During Celebration
The strange occurrence of a serious knee injury during a sack celebration has caused yet another NFL player to be lost for the season.
Chicago Bears defensive end Lamarr Houston, who was signed from the Oakland Raiders in the offseason, tore his ACL after celebrating a sack of New England rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the fourth quarter of Chicago’s 51-23 loss to New England yesterday (Sun., October 26, 2014).
Here is the celebration and injury in question, which came with the Bears down by 25 points very late in the game (courtesy of Vine):
Today (Mon., October 27, 2014) it was confirmed by FOX Sports’ Mike Garafolo that Houston tore his ACL on the celebration and will be lost for the entire 2014 season:
MRI confirms Bears DE Lamarr Houston tore his ACL yesterday. Unfortunate injury for sure. — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 27, 2014
Shortly thereafter, Bears GM Phil Emery told NFL.com Insider Ian Rapoport that Houston had apologized for his actions and has paid a grave price for his mistake:
Phil Emery on Lamarr Houston: “He apologized for his error. But ultimately the team paid a price, and Lamarr paid a bigger price.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 27, 2014
Houston may be apologetic, but the fact remains that a high-priced player simply cannot put himself in harm’s way for celebrating a sack when his team is down 25 points in an unwinnable game. It was also his first sack of the season.
Remarkably, Houston wasn’t the first player to tear his ACL doing the exact same thing, as Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch also saw his season disappear after celebrating a sack of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
They may have both been fluke accidents, but perhaps defensive players should put their health and their team’s best interests before their own selfish gloating.
Despite some of the best offensive talent in the NFL, Chicago is 3-5 right now, and much of their lack of success is due to their porous defense. Losing Houston to a celebration in an out of control game certainly isn’t going to help.
