FanHouse Nd Kalu

Texans wide receiver Harry Williams was having a great camp, and had a chance of making the team based on his special teams play. Those dreams were likely ended yesterday, when Williams suffered a neck fracture while trying to make a special team tackle in the the first quarter of the Texans-Cowboys preseason game.

Williams was paralyzed on the field, but regained feeling and movement while being transported by ambulance to the hospital. The fracture is of the C3 vertebra, and he will be have surgery in Dallas this weekend to fuse his spine. Team orthopedic specialist Dr. Walter Lowe and coach Gary Kubiak discusses the injury in more depth in the above HoustonTexans.com video. They believe his prognosis is good.

Update: Try this link if the YouTube is not working.

I've always had the point of view that an educated, knowledgeable sports fan is more likely to be a rabid fan. And that for those dedicated fans, no amount of information about their favorite team that is enough.

The NFL thinks differently. Though they have expanded media access to organized team activities in a way that is uncomfortable for some franchises, (Redskins, Patriots?), they have released new rules that significantly limit online video and audio for non-NFL websites. These rules limit all video footage to 45 seconds per day: for interviews, practice footage, everything. The videos can't be live , must be removed after 24 hours, and the online content must tell the viewer to go to NFL.com and the team website for more information, even if it is irrelevant to the story.

Check out this YouTube video from Houston Chronicle's John McClain NFL blog that illustrates the absurdity of this new rule. It is a series of semi-interviews with ND Kalu, Matt Schaub, QB coach Kyle Shanahan, GM Rick Smith and Texans owner Bob McNair. (Best actor award goes to Schaub.) McClain's responses in the comments section of the blog post show various ways the policy doesn't work, and possible solutions.