They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Something else might have to be added to the list: Bob Sanders and Anthony Gonzalez getting hurt for the Colts.
When it comes to football betting, the best wager of all would have been that Bob Sanders could not last the entire year for Indianapolis. There’s a reason why we haven’t written about Bob Sanders for three years, and it’s his health.
Checking out his football stats, you’ll see that Sanders has been in the league since 2004 but has only reached double-digit in games played twice. The oft-injured safety played only eight games in the last two years. For his career, Sanders has played just 48 of a possible 97 regular season games. He’s been bothered by biceps and knee injuries most recently, but ankle and other arm injuries have also cost him playing time.
2010 was supposed to be a new season with a fresh start. For Sanders, it proved to be more of the same as he hurt his arm once again early in week 1 and did not return against the Texans. Sanders will have an MRI on his elbow that should tell us more about us status, but the good news is he was back at practice on Monday.
Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez has a similar story for the Colts. A play-making receiver coming out of Ohio State, the Colts drafted Gonzalez in the first round in 2007. Anthony had just 576 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie campaign and 664 yards with four touchdowns in his second year. Gonzalez was poised for a breakout last season but he hurt his knee in the season opener and missed the rest of the year.
Much like Sanders, Gonzalez got hurt early against Houston and did not return. He’ll have an MRI on his ankle after finishing with one catch in week 1. Hopefully 2010 won’t be a repeat of 2009 for Gonzalez who only had one catch the entire season.
