Troy Woolfolk's Injury Was Of Non-Contact Variety

Freak accidents happen in sports and are just part of athletics in general. One minute you can be running fine and moments later, just by planting the wrong way, you can suddenly blow out your leg.

Former Michigan quarterback/wide receiver Antonio Bass experienced a severe non-contact, freak-accident injury back in the spring of 2006. He was running a play as a quarterback, tripped, planted and completely destroyed his knee when his foot got caught in the turf. Just like that, Bass' football career came to an end, as all of the ligaments in his knee were destroyed and he also pulled his hamstring. A usual movement that is done every day during practice resulted in one of the severest injuries in Michigan football history.

On Tuesday, Troy Woolfolk experienced a non-contact injury of his own. As you all probably know by now, he broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle, and like Bass, it happened because his foot got caught when he planted.

“I’m only listening to what the coaches told me, but they said it happened during a tackle. His foot got stuck in the turf and his ankle just turned,” Butch Woolfolk said from Sugar Land, Texas, where he lives and where Troy grew up.

It truly is amazing how such a routine thing can produce such a catastrophic injury. All of Woolfolk's hard work to prepare for his senior season came to an end in an instant, and soon he will have to begin the long road to recovery.

I hope returning to the football field is the light at the end of the tunnel for Woolfolk, but as Bass' injury showed, sometimes injuries can be life-altering and leave football out of the equation. Obviously no one wants that to be the case for Woolfolk, because he deserves a chance to play out his senior year. Hopefully that will happen in 2011, but for now, however, I just hope Woolfolk recovers from this injury, as he is certainly in my thoughts.

Troy Woolfolk Suffers Dislocated Ankle, Broken Fibula

Confirming the worst fears after Troy Woolfolk suffered “a lower body injury” during practice on Tuesday, reports are now circulating that Woolfolk suffered a broken leg and will miss the 2010 season.

ESPN’s Joe Schad talked to Woolfolk’s high school coach Jim Creech, and passed along the grisly details on Twitter.

Troy Woolfolk's HS coach Jim Creech says the CB has a dislocated ankle, broken bone in leg and expected to miss season

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press also filed a report on Twitter, after talking to Woolfolk’s father, Butch.

Woolfolk has dislocated ankle, had to be reset, and possible ligament damage, according to his father Butch. Decision on surgery will wait.

Surgery is a possibility for Woolfolk, but the swelling has to go down in his ankle before doctors determine if a procedure is necessary.

Check in with Maize n Brew for the latest on this story, as well as everything else going on with Michigan football.

Michigan's Troy Woolfolk Suffers Injury During Practice, Taken To Hospital

Last week when Justin Turner decided to leave the Michigan football program, I wrote that with depth so thin at cornerback, the Wolverines would really be in trouble if something happened to a starter like Troy Woolfolk. Well, unfortunately something has happened to Woolfolk, as this statement was released tonight by head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Troy Woolfolk suffered a lower body injury during practice this afternoon and was transported to U-M Hospital with our team physician. We can’t comment further due to medical privacy rights.

The rumor from this afternoon was that Woolfolk seriously injured his ankle and could potentially be out for the season. Considering whatever he did was bad enough that a trip to the hospital was necessary, it certainly sounds like he is severely hurt.

Right now I just hope Woolfolk is able to recover from this injury and this isn't a situation like Michigan fans saw with Antonio Bass years ago (he tore his knee apart in a non-contact situation and never played football again). At the same time, it does leave me wondering what to expect out of the secondary this coming season if Woolfolk is in fact out for the year. The secondary, as previously mentioned, was in bad enough shape already with Turner leaving last week, but as bad as that was, he was only a backup. Woolfolk is a starter and a leader and losing him is an enormous blow to the secondary and the defense as a whole.

At cornerback, J.T. Floyd would be Michigan's top starter with Woolfolk out of the picture. That leaves the other spot likely to be filled by a true freshman, which by itself is scary enough. To make matters worse is that beyond Floyd and a true freshman like Cullen Christian or Courtney Avery, Michigan doesn't really have any starting-caliber players waiting in the wings if someone else were to go down.

At this point, things are looking extremely bad on paper for Michigan's secondary and the defense in general. One player certainly doesn't make or break a team, but losing Woolfolk leaves me with little hope of the defense being anything beyond average this year. Actually, I have a hard time seeing the defense be anything other than mediocre, especially going up against the pass. I hope Michigan proves me wrong, but with the way the defense is now, even a bowl game is starting to look unlikely.

Concerns about the 2010 season aside, my thoughts are with Woolfolk, because it certainly seems as though he suffered a serious injury today.