My head is still a bit in a fog from listening to hours of Blazer media day coverage yesterday. So it goes without saying it’s been a slow morning. The following news took a second to sink in. The Oregonian is reporting that Duck cornerback, captain, All-American candidate, and unquestioned leader Walter Thurmond III will go under the knife. Thurmond’s UO career is over, and he leaves with the most touchdowns (5) from any non-offensive player in Ducks history.
The Bellotti regime and athletic department were mum about Thurmond’s health all week, probably because they feared the news most Duck fans already assumed was coming. The press release doesn’t indicate the severity or type of injury Thurmond sustained, nor when he’ll undergo surgery.
The Ducks’ health woes over the years are well-documented. In recent years, many UO seniors have had to deal with career-ending injuries. When taken in their entirety it’s rather alarming. This is just a sampling:
- Cameron Colvin lost the remainder of his senior season thanks to an ankle injury. At the time, Colvin seemed to emerge as a go-to receiver
- Brian Paysinger blew out his knee during his senior campaign. Paysinger was the best Duck wideout that year.
- Dennis Dixon shredded his knee during his senior year, and thus the Ducks’ title hopes were shredded.
I’m sure there are other examples that are slipping my mind. Please post in the comments if you recall.
Is there a senior curse in Eugene? Maybe that’s why Jarius Byrd and Haloti Ngata jumped to the NFL.
Now add the Ducks’ unquestioned emotional leader to the collection of wounded web-foots. Just like the former Ducks listed above, Thurmond seemed to finally be living up to his own hype. Now, Walter Version3.0 is probably thinking about his professional career and whether he’ll be healthy come draft day.
That’ll have to wait, though, as Thurmond is now thrust even more into a leadership role, albeit a supporting part as a glorified cheerleader. The hope is Thurmond can impart his wisdom on the youngsters in the Duck secondary. John Boyett, freshman phenom Cliff Harris, and Javes Lewis can learn a lot from Thurmond. Duck fans better hope they listen up.
The secondary responded very well during the Cal game, but they were running on adrenaline at the time. It’ll be interesting to see how they cope without Thurmond for the rest of the year. This will test the depth of the defense as a whole. So far Nick Aliotti and John Neal have orchestrated a brilliant defensive effort. Their jobs just became more difficult.
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