The Baltimore Ravens released their final injury report after Friday's practice, which includes the players' game status for Sunday. Good to see that there are no Ravens listed a s"out" although Haloti Ngata still did not participate today, which makes his status very uncertain for Sunday.
Long snapper Matt Katula practiced today, which was also good news. I was a little surprised to see the long snapper listed as injured for an elbow problem. Ironically, I was reading my October issue of Playboy Magazine and specifically the article called "Bad to the Bone," about the Oakland Raiders of the '70's, considered the meanest, dirtiest, cheatingest team ever to win the Super Bowl. In the article, Raiders long time center, Jim Otto talked about his injuries and also doubled as the team's long snapper.
(See more about the Oakland Raiders' Jim Otto's comments after the 'Jump')
Otto said in the article:
"I did every snap for 308 games in a row. Long snaps, too. I practiced those till I could get the ball to the holder in seven tenths of a second, spinning just right so when he caught it the sweet side of the ball - the side away from the laces - was facing the kicker. I made every snap for 15 years. I played with broken fingers, ribs, a broken jaw, kicked-in teeth and pneumonia, and I broke my nose more than 20 times. I've had more than 50 surgeries, 12 knee replacements, two artificial shoulders. I broke my back twice and then, in 2007, had my right leg amputated. But I understood the risks when I played. It was worth it."
Guess Matt Katula's injury no longer sounds so bad. Toughen up, Katula!