Bad News for T-Rac's Victim

First, a disclaimer: T-Rac and his exploits are not the most important things in our lives right now. Nor is it all that we are ever going to write about again. No, we’re not considering renaming our blog “The T-Rac Reporter.” It’s just that it’s easy, fun, and relaxing to write about T-Rac’s exploits. And hopefully this will be the last post on the issue (unless something really good comes up tomorrow, or whenever).

All that said, the latest news is not so funny. The innocent victim in all this is Adrian McPherson. The really bad news is that he has been unable to fully extend his right leg since the accident. It was originally diagnosed as a deep bruise on the knee. A second trip to a specialist and an MRI revealed that McPherson has a bruised bursar sac in his knee. This is terrible timing as McPherson tries to keep his spot on the team. As one writer notes, the injury is “so far removed from his control that coming to grips with how he got hurt might be more of a challenge than the injury itself.”

McPherson has an interesting background, as you can learn in greater detail in the linked story. His is one of those stories that would make a great movie – if it somehow had a happy ending. That hasn’t happened yet.

He was a backup quarterback at Florida State in 2001 and began starting halfway through the 2002 season. But when he stole and cashed a blank check, he was kicked off the team. He was accused of gambling on college and pro football games. He was denied admission to two Division I-AA schools. Then he was convicted on the check fraud charges and pleaded no contest to the gambling charges, receiving a 90-day prison work detail sentence.

Then things started looking up. He joined the Indiana Firebirds – yes, he played right here in Indianapolis – as the youngest person to ever play in the Arena Football League. He played very well, throwing for 2,965 yards and 56 touchdowns in 14 games. He was drafted by the Saints. And then he was hit by a raccoon . . .