Dragons Recall Unfortunate Accident in L.A.
Dwayne Smith
Wednesday April 13, 2005
As teammates, family and friends of Lucas mourn his loss, the team he played against is also trying to recover and move on from this incident, the only fatality in the 19-year history of the Arena Football League. The New York Dragons, like the Avengers were informed of the death of Lucas at the conclusion of their 66-35 loss in Los Angeles. The announcement caught the entire team off guard, as the play itself appeared very much like any other kickoff return.
On Tuesday, members of the Dragons addressed the media to share their thoughts about the entire incident and the overall mood of the team. In blocking for WR/DB Corey Johnson on a routine First Quarter kickoff return, WR/LB Mike Horacek described the play. " There was a hole that opened up and … Al came off a block and (saw) … Corey was directly behind me…. I think (he felt) that he could go through me to get to Corey and unfortunately the accident happened." In fact, Lucas would end up getting to Johnson on the play in which he was able to take the him off his feet, while Horacek’s knee collided with his helmet.
Ironically Johnson never saw Lucas while the play was going on, "I was just falling behind Mike and next thing I know I was flipping and I still didn’t know (Lucas was down)." In fact, nobody watching the game on the sidelines or seats thought anything more of the play, until it became apparent Lucas was not getting up and the medical staff brought out the stretcher. Dragons QB Aaron Garcia observed, "When you see them coming out with the board, you hope for the best."
Even with the medical staff taking great care to move Lucas from the field of play, the players in no way felt that the injury was at all life threatening from it’s appearance. Johnson said, "I really just thought it was procedure… to make sure he was OK… I didn’t know that it was that serious."
Upon finding out the inconceivable truth after the game that the collision suffered by Lucas caused his untimely passing, the players and staff were in a state of shock with no explanation for how this could happen. In the words of head coach Mike Harding, "It was a hit that you’ve seen a million times." Garcia described what he is going through as "struggling right now, trying to put things in perspective and looking for answers that really aren’t there."
With the passing of Lucas in a game that these players and coaches have enjoyed for their entire lives, you can’t help but be affected. This certainly is a challenge Coach Harding could not have anticipated during his rookie season as the man in charge. As a former player, Harding has a vantage point that will help get his message across. While players compete with an acknowledged risk of injury, until this moment the possibility of losing your life had not entered their minds. The coach warns however that changing the way you play the game is not the answer. "You can’t go out there and second guess yourself as far as your movements and plays… if you’re doing that then your not going to be able to play football."
The questions have arisen in some corners as to whether the indoor game is any more dangerous than outdoor football. This is despite the fact that NFL and college players suffer serious injuries at a greater frequency than players in either the AFL or arenafootball2. While players have died in outdoor football as recently as 2002, when University of Washington defensive back Curtis Williams was injured attempting to tackle a Stanford running back, there has never been a death in the 19 years of Arena Football, until Sunday.
With that being said, the entire world of Arena Football has been shattered by the death of Lucas. A preliminary cause of death is spinal chord injury, but the reports of the autopsy have yet to be released. In the meantime, New York must find a way to move on and football serves as a therapeutic distraction. It just so happens that New York travels to Orlando to face the 7-4 Predators for a Friday Night game. This is a short week for the Dragons with very little time to allow the events of Sunday to sink in.
As an organization, the Dragons have provided grief counseling for players that are interested and have expressed their condolences to the family of Al Lucas.
Dwayne Smith covers Arena Football and the NFL for different web outlets along with providing a fantasy column to FantasyGMs.com. Dwayne has also been a contributor to other online and print outlets, including the Dallas Morning News. In 2003, he covered the NFL Draft from the Headquarters of the New York Jets.
