The offensive lineman who ended Brian Cushing's season and inspired a new NFL rule would like Cushing to know he's sorry.
Matt Slauson of the New York Jets hit Cushing, an inside linebacker for the Houston Texans, low and from behind in a game early last season, tearing Cushing's ACL. The NFL this off-season banned blocks like the one Slauson made on Cushing, and Slauson became a bit of a villain as a result.
Well, Slauson recently signed with the Chicago Bears, and he told the Chicago Sun-Times he's tried to apologize to Cushing but hasn't been able to reach him.
"I tried," Slauson told the Sun-Times. "But it didn't work out. I wanted to let him know that I was really sorry. I heard he's a great guy, and I wish him all the best, and I'm sure I'm going to be seeing on the field again."
Although the hit wasn't penalized on the field, Slauson was fined $10,000 for it.
"I think about it all the time," Slauson said. "It was just unfortunate the way it happened, Brian getting hurt. I didn't want it to happen. I was just trying to do whatever I could to win. And unfortunately, it worked out very badly. It was a frowned-upon block. But I think about it all the time, and I'm really sorry the guy got hurt for it."
