Chiefs’ Eric Berry Out For Season / Injury Was Not Due To Contact

Many Chiefs’ fans and members of the local media are upset with the Bills’ wide-receiver, Stevie Johnson, for a downfield block he directed at Eric Berry’s knees. The hit sends Berry cartwheeling onto his head but Berry jumped up and was able to stay in the game. Click here is the video of that hit.

After hearing from an upset Chiefs’ fan on Twitter, Stevie Johnson responded that he is not a cheap player. ‘“man shutup U clown ILL NEVER CHEAPSHOT A PLAYER
ON THE FIELD! IDC if he my Enemy U Square! Last I checked a cut block was
legal
!” While Johnson’s block looks bad, it is not only legal but still taught by every receiver’s coach I know in the game. But Johnson’s block is not what led to Berry’s season-ending knee injury. Like a lot of joint injuries, this one appears to be self induced.

Courtesy of Matt Kadel, a KU alum who tweets as @MattKadel, this video shows that Eric Berry apparently tore his ACL by making a cut in the open field – without any contact from any other player. Click here to view this video to see the evidence. Berry’s left knee clearly buckles after a cut and he immediately goes down without any player around him. He did not return to the game after this play.

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24

About Greg Hall

Software guy who has been writing my Off The Couch column in KC newspapers, publications and websites since 1994. Has been bounced from some of the finest media establishments this side of State Line Road. Dad first and everything else second...and there are a lot of everything elses.
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29 Responses to Chiefs’ Eric Berry Out For Season / Injury Was Not Due To Contact

  1. That Guy says:

    Berry could of sprained the knee on the Johnson play, and subsequently tore the ACL given its weakened state. I know, because I’ve done it. It was painful to watch the clip.

    • Greg Hall says:

      True, but he also could have weakened it two weeks ago in practice. It looks to me like he is moving fine until he makes the fatal cut with his left leg. I think the Johnson block looks much worse than it was. But there is no denying the open-field cut crumbles his knee.

    • Nick says:

      Berry could’ve sprained Johnson’s knee on any play, it’s called football and it happens every week. If you would have asked a Chiefs fan before the game, they would say ‘The Chiefs are gonna kill the bills’, and ‘Eric Berry is gonna blow up one of your receivers’, etc…. Well, the opposite happened…. get over it.

  2. Java Man says:

    The iceberg didn’t kill the passengers aboard the Titanic, it was the freezing water.

    • MrOlathe says:

      Well, if that lying bitch Rose hadn’t been slumming it with that hobo Jack Dawson, then maybe she would have seen the iceberg and had time to warn the captain!

      • Rick says:

        Titanic. One of the most laughable movies EVER. Let’s see it ends with saying Rose became a famous actress. Hummm…then why didn’t anyone recognize her as Rose from the FREAKIN ship!

  3. P says:

    I don’t know, the block didn’t appear to do much, if any, damage to his knee whatsoever. It wasn’t exactly one of those ugly hits where a guys leg is fully planted in the turf and the knee gets bent awkward. To me, it appeared Berry saw the guy coming and took the block about as best he could and got his bodyweight off the leg. With that said, who knows, like That Guy says, he may have sprained it and possibly wasn’t aware his leg was in a bad position.

  4. Dr. James Andrews says:

    It’s a little more than a coincidence that Berry was bashed in the left knee and then 10 minutes later the tear rears it’s head. Come Greg, this is more than circumstantial evidence.

    And, yes, the hit was “legal”, but that’s not to say it wasn’t cheap. I’ll feel a lot less sorry for Stevie Johnson the next time James Harrison cold-cocks him on a crossing route.

    • Greg Hall says:

      You’re looking at this from a fan’s viewpoint and not as an objective viewer. It sucks to lose Berry for the season but what Johnson did was a football play, not a dirty play to hurt an opponent. And I can’t see where Johnson’s cut block even made contact with Berry’s knees.

      • Steve says:

        It was quite obvious the block injured his knee, which is why he came out of the game after the hit. Since he came back into the game, we’ll never know the full damage the block did, but its not a big stretch to think it played at least some part.

        The block looks legal, though not something you like seeing 10 yards from the action

        • Greg Hall says:

          Lots of talk circulating that Berry first injured his knee the week before in the Green Bay game. But that is speculative as well — just as talk that the block caused his injury.

          Say what you want about the downfield block but it looks legal to me and justified. WR are supposed to clear out safeties 10-yards in front of the play.

          Berry was able to return to the game after the block. He rips up his knee making the cut w/o any contact and then leaves the game for good. That is indisputable.

        • Montel says:

          It’s standard proceedure for a player to come out for one play after a stoppage due to injury or perceived injury. Berry was actively involved in four plays before the knee gave out on him. Who’s to say he wasn’t injured on any of the previous plays?

  5. Renton says:

    Are we sure Berry didn’t get into a fight in the locker room with Thomas Jones?

    • Greg Hall says:

      Jones could probably be more effective as a safety this season than he will be at RB. I don’t see Thomas breaking 400 yards as a rusher.

    • EricBinKC says:

      I’m hearing from very reliable sources that he injured the knee when Johnny Lawrence swept the leg in a karate tournament.

  6. Johnny Utah says:

    Johnson’s block was indeed a cheapshot, and a team with guts and heart that cares for each other would have avenged it. The Chiefs sat back, did nothing, took their beating and then quit. Now, only Johnson in his broken english seems to have any heart about it. Imigine that, a player caring.

    When your team starts caring, chiefs fans, you need to stop caring too.

    • Montel says:

      Gee Johnny, if you can’t understand the difference between twitter shorthand and proper english, you should stick to commenting on topics you know.

  7. Kevin says:

    You’re right, Johnny Utah, they should’ve thrown at the next guy up in retaliation.

  8. The KC Eye says:

    Sorry, Greg, but I couldn’t disagree more. It seems obvious to me that Berry sprained his ACL on the hit, and tore it because he was allowed to re-enter the game. Your video evidence actually hurts your case.

    I blogged about it here.

    • Kevin says:

      In this case, it’s more Chiefs trainers’ fault and Berry’s own fault to go back on field and then torn his ACL.

  9. Squellmann says:

    Chiefs and Colts in a battle for Andrew Luck!

  10. nick says:

    Greg said: “…but what Johnson did was a football play, not a dirty play to hurt an opponent. And I can’t see where Johnson’s cut block even made contact with Berry’s knees.”

    C’mon! I think you’re purposely trying to tweak Chief fans. Johnson made contact with Berry’s lower leg, starting right below the knee it looks like…then kinda slides down. Berry’s body was going upfield, his left leg had just barely left the ground, then Johnson impacted the middle of his leg, causing it to slightly and quickly bend wrong.

    I’m stupified if you seriously don’t think Johnson’s hit had an affect on injuring Berry’s knee. Though legal perhaps, it looks like a cheapshot. Johnson seems to be eyeballing Berry’s knee, aiming his helmet and shoulder at his mid-leg.

  11. Rick says:

    So does this mean Stevie would cheap shot them off the field?

    • Kevin says:

      It means Chiefs’ trainers and Berry himself are more responsible for going back to the game and then tearing his ACL.

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  13. Rico says:

    Legal block, legal play, unfortunate injury. Get over it…

  14. larry says:

    ITS FOOTBALL NOT TENNIS…………Steve johnson was just doing his job, dont hate cause hes better than Dwayne bowe