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Gameday Instant Analysis: A somber Week 2
Published: 9/9/2012 2:58 AM
Last Modified: 9/9/2012 10:14 AM

It's funny how one instant can change everything.

One moment, you're wondering why Tulsa didn't throw into the end zone on the final play of the first half against Tulane on Saturday.

The next second, you're watching stunned as one young man's life is inexplicably changed forever.

Instead of tossing up a Hail Mary pass, Tulsa quarterback Cody Green threw short to Willie Carter. Tulane safety Devon Walker approached Carter from one side of the field. His teammate, Julius Warmsley, chased Carter from the other.

When Walker and Warmsley met, the collision turned a run-of-the-mill final play into a life-and-death situation.

Witnesses on the scene, including the broadcast team for Fox Sports, reported paramedics attempts to revive Walker.

Players and fans prayed. Silence filled the stands.

The Tulane athletic department reported Saturday night that Walker suffered a "cervical spine fracture." He awaits surgery.

What happens next, we're uncertain.

But what should have happened in the moments after Walker was rushed to St. Francis Hospital seems more certain.

The game should have stopped. The fans sent home. The Tulane team allowed at Walker's side as a show of support and a sign of respect.

Tulsa and Tulane officials did discuss canceling the second half. But Green Wave coach Curtis Johnson said his team decided to "do what Devon would do. He would go out there and play his butt off."

That sentiment seems appropriate if Walker had broken a leg or torn up a knee. But it feels out of place given the dire situation he faced only 30 or so minutes before.

On the Fox Sports telecast, studio analyst and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen appeared shaken by the scene that was playing out before him. But even he seemed a little surprised at the suggestion of canceling the second half.

The games, he said, must go on.

But sometimes we forget the games are just that... games.

Sports are always best when they remain in the role of diversion.

Organized athletics can teach valuable lessons, but at heart, they're meant for entertainment and escape.

When real life intrudes, as it did Saturday at Chapman Stadium, the games have to get out of the way.

As it is, we'll keep Walker, his family and teammates in our thoughts, a current reminder that the sports we hold dear aren't without danger.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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