To put into perspective the torn Achilles' tendon that probably ended Lawrence Taylor's career:
It is not, as a few golden voices said, "a tragedy."It is simply an unfortunate end to one of the NFL's great careers. For "tragedy," see Mike Utley, Eric Andolsek and Jerome Brown. For career-ending injury, see Joe Theismann, who went out in 1985 with a leg broken when he was hit by . . . Lawrence Taylor.
"When I saw the play, I thought of myself," Theismann said.
In fact, if Taylor has played his last game, he can look back without regrets, flash his two Super Bowl rings and spend five years on the golf course before going straight to Canton and the Hall of Fame.
For when he went down Sunday on the artificial turf at Giants Stadium after batting down a Brett Favre pass, it was the first serious injury in his 111/2-year career - the four games he missed when he was suspended in 1988 for drug use mark the only time he was out for more than a week.
More often, he'd go down, the trainers would run out, and the fans would be quiet. Then he'd get up and trot off the field, returning on the next play or the next series.
And he seemed to withstand pain - in 1988, he had 10 tackles and three sacks in New Orleans while playing with a dislocated left shoulder.
So give LT his career and look at others.
There's Keith Millard, a dominant defensive tackle who was defensive player of the year for Minnesota in 1989 and has hardly played a down since. He had two knee operations, injured an elbow in Seattle this year and finally retired after being picked up by Green Bay.
So, good as Millard was . . .
Probably no Hall of Fame. Too short a career.
There are others, too.
Think of Chris Miller, the Atlanta quarterback, who might be a major star . . . if he could ever stay healthy. Now he's out for this season and maybe more with a knee injury after missing parts of his previous five years with various ailments.
Even think of Bo Jackson, whose gamble to play two sports ended on the turf at the Los Angeles Coliseum with a hip injury. And Brian Bosworth, another potential LT. His chronic shoulder injury sent him to Hollywood. But don't cry too hard for Jackson or Bosworth, who have been paid far more than they earned on the football field.
Think of Franco Harris, another Hall of Famer who played out the string, bouncing around the league when he had lost two steps. Is that a better way to go out than on a golf cart, as Taylor did?
And finally, think of Andre Tippett, one of the many Taylor clones who has come along but remains buried on a losing team in New England. Tippett, another "56" got to a Super Bowl after 1985. Other than that, he remains forgotten.
In fact, Taylor's injury signals in some way the end of the '80s in the NFL.
He was planning to retire anyway after this season.
So is Chicago's Mike Singletary, who played next to Taylor in so many Pro Bowls. And it would be no surprise if at this time next season, there's no Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen, Phil Simms and Anthony Munoz.
So when you think of LT, don't think tragedy. Like Singletary, John Elway, Dan Marino, Lott and Allen, he's among the lucky ones, the ones who have stayed healthy in a distinctly unhealthy game.
DOMINANT DIVISION: What's the best division in the NFL? No contest.
The NFC East went 5-0 on Sunday against opponents from outside the division - yes, even the Phoenix Cardinals won, beating the Los Angeles Rams 20-14.
That left four of the five teams in the NFC East over .500 - the fourth-place Giants are 5-4 and would be no worse than second in four other divisions and third in the NFC West.
Also:
- The three top teams - Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington - are 12-1 outside the division.
- Super Bowl champion Washington, 1-3 against NFC East teams, is 5-0 outside the division.
- No NFC East team, not even the Cardinals (2-2 against outside opponents after consecutive wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Rams) is under .500 outside that grouping. The Giants, with a 2-1 division record and 3-3 outside, are the only team playing better within the East.