The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons preseason game on Friday, August 8, came to a scary halt when defensive back Morice Norris suffered a serious injury. Norris’ injury took place early in the fourth quarter, when he tried to make a tackle on a Falcons player. During the play, his head snapped back and he fell to the ground, unable to get up.
The NFL is filled with scary moments like these, but this seemed even more serious than the usual injures. The new Lions player and former undrafted free agent was put onto a stretcher and taken off the field in an ambulance.
“Lions DB Morice Norris has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation,” the team stated on social media after the incident.
Detroit Lions Players Send Prayers to Morice Norris
Following the injury, Lions players took to social media to comment and ask for prayers for Norris.
“Pray for my twin man,” Rakestraw wrote. “Man say a prayer for my brother man,” Terrion Arnold said. “#26,” Amon-Ra St. Brown added with a blue heart and praying hands emoji.
Video from outside the football stadium also showed people praying for the injured NFL player.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell some news about the incident, and some of it was good.
“He’s at the hospital, and I’ll just have to leave it at that,” he said. “But obviously something like that happens, it puts things in perspective. So, we are just praying for Mo. I asked everybody to pray for him.”
Campbell added that Norris is “breathing, he’s talking … that’s good. He’s got some movement, and now they are running more tests.”
Campbell also said glowing things about Falcons coach Raheem Morris. The two handled the situation with class.
“He’s the ultimate class act,” Campbell said. “So, you know, we agreed that it just didn’t feel right to finish that game. That man is a class act. Always has been.”
He added, “The silver lining is now the brotherhood. To see all those guys from that team, our team kind of come together, and everybody is thinking about another player. Just means a lot, you know.”
Atlanta’s Head Coach Talks About Lions Injury
After the game, Morris also talked about the injury and the game itself. “They’re so emotional about the game, they’re so emotional about what we do, and they were all — I got a lot of respect for the other players in this game,” Morris said regarding the Lions. “And that was the ultimate show of it by the teams right there. And you just got to pray for Morice Norris and his family.”
Morris said that he and Campbell made the call to let the clock run out and end the game out of respect for Norris and his family.
“It’s not a lot of times that happens. I can’t sit here and tell you that I’ve been through a lot of those or seen a lot of those. I don’t think any of us have,” Morris said in the interview. “And that was the moment decision, and it was the right thing to do for our football team and the Lions football team.”
Let’s join the NFL community in sending up prayers and well-wishes to Norris for a speedy and full recovery.
