By Joe Saunders August 24, 2024 at 8:01am
An NFL player was back on his feet Friday after an in-game injury Thursday that left fans horrified and fellow players on the field.
Chicago Bears cornerback Douglas Coleman III lay motionless on the field after a tackle in the beginning of the second half of the Bears’ preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
After medical staff from both teams treated him on the field, he was taken to a hospital for assessment, then flown back to Chicago on Friday, according to The Associated Press.
While the extent of his injury was unknown, Bears coach Matt Eberflus told a Chicago radio station that Coleman was at least ambulatory on Friday.
“He was walking around,” Eberflus told WSCR-AM’s “The Score.”
That had to come as good news to anyone who saw what social media users called “the scary scene” of Coleman’s injury.
Here’s the scary scene from Arrowhead.
Bears’ Douglas Coleman III being taken off the field on the stretcher.
Both teams were on a knee for several minutes. pic.twitter.com/hTezPurj4a
— Vince Lovergine (@Vince_Lovergine) August 23, 2024
Coleman was tackling the Chiefs’ Cornell Powell when Coleman’s “neck bent awkwardly,” the AP reported.
And he stayed down.
Prayers up for Chicago Bears defensive back DB Coleman III, who was taken off the field on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital. #CHIvsKC#NFLPreseason
— Tuesday (@Tuesday_Tells) August 23, 2024
“Coleman moved his extremities as the medical staff removed his facemask and strapped him to a backboard. He was then loaded onto the cart and driven up the tunnel in the corner of the stadium,” the AP reported.
With NFL memories still fresh of the life-threatening January 2023 injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who fell to the field after making what appeared to be a routine tackle, Coleman’s injury was a reminder of the essential brutality — and danger — of the game.
Really scary scene in KC. KCFD cart came out for Bears DB Douglas Coleman III – he was placed on a backboard before being moved to a stretcher.
Entire Chicago sideline came on the field & Chiefs took a knee.
Play has since resumed pic.twitter.com/eEct8hpnsH
— Marleah Campbell (@MarleahKCTV5) August 23, 2024
Coleman, 26, is a product of Texas Tech — like Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
He has not played a regular season game in the NFL but played two seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Redblacks, according to ESPN.
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He told the Ottawa Sun in a 2023 interview that he practiced against Mahomes when the two were in college.
How Thursday’s injury will affect Coleman’s career remains to be seen, but the fact that he was able to stand and walk on Friday is at the least a good sign.
“I did talk to him,” Ebeflus told WSCR. “He’s in good spirits.”
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
