A mere week into my new job as Steeler’s beat writer for Pittsburgh Sporting News, and here I am, writing a second piece detailing an injury to a Steeler rookie.
Steeler nation grimaced a familiar scowl Thursday night as rookie linebacker Sean Spence’s knee all but pulled a 360 degree spin toward the end of the third quarter. Spence immediately fell to the turf and remained there while play was stopped and a team of trainers and concerned teammates flocked to his side. Spence was carted off the field via stretcher, flashing a thumbs up to the roaring crowd.
Multiple ligaments in Spence’s left knee tore during the play, and team doctors have deemed him unfit to play for the remainder of the season.
If this all sounds terribly familiar, it should. Fellow rookie and first-round Steeler draft choice David DeCastro caught the injury bug last week, suffering a dislocated knee and MCL tear, not to mention further damage to his knee joint. DeCastro, who was expected to start and contribute immediately on the offensive line, is slated to miss 4-5 weeks thanks to the tear, halting what could have been a swift progression toward stardom for the big man.
While Spence’s injury is for all intents and purposes considered less of a threat to the team’s overall success as was DeCastro’s, it’s still a blow the men of steel didn’t want to have to deal with entering the regular season. Spence was penciled in to back- up inside linebackers Larry Foote and Lawrence Timmons. With two pro-bowl caliber backers already in place, it was unlikely that Spence would end up starting during the course of the season anyway, but his play on special teams had the team salivating for more.
Despite the injury to DeCastro, the majority of the Steeler starters on both sides of the ball remain untouched by injury and healthy for the time being, (running back Rashard Mendenhall being an obvious exception.) Pittsburgh has set its sights solely on their upcoming week one matchup versus the Denver Broncos. Nearly needless to say, the Broncos thwarted the Steelers‘ plans of rushing to the Super Bowl just last year, so the 2012-2013 squad is bent on revenge.
Spence and DeCastro will be forced to call the sideline home for now during the first few weeks of the regular season, but Steeler fans have yet to lose hope that their return will ignite the fiery passion for victory within the team.
Photo courtesy of Rant Sports
