Spinal-cord injury described as 'catastrophic' ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Kevin Everett's Buffalo Bills teammates are accustomed to his silence. On Monday, they described Everett, a third-year tight end, as quiet. So they would have gladly settled for a simple gesture, like a thumbs up, as he was carted off the field with a spinal cord injury Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Buffalo quarterback J.P. Losman said he thought, "Show me a sign of something," as Everett was loaded into an ambulance.
"Something" never came. And that turned out to be a grim sign.
On Monday, team doctors said Everett was paralyzed from the shoulders down and his condition was potentially fatal after he was injured while covering the second-half kickoff in the Bills' 15-14 loss to Denver.
Everett, 25, attempted to make what appeared to be a routine tackle of the Broncos' Domenik Hixon. But after striking his helmet on Hixon's shoulder pad, Everett immediately collapsed to the turf, and lay motionless for about 15 minutes while he was tended to by medical staffers.
The Bills' team physician, Dr. John Marzo, said Everett remained conscious and alert on the field but was unable to move his extremities. Everett was immobilized using a back board and taken by ambulance to Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital in Buffalo, where he underwent "urgent decompressive surgery" Sunday, according to doctors.
Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, an orthopedic spinal surgeon who operated on Everett for four hours, described his chances of a complete recovery, including walking, as "bleak or dismal."
On Monday, Everett had been heavily sedated and remained on a respirator in the hospital, where doctors will observe his condition for 48 to 72 hours before making another examination. Cappuccino said that Everett faced several life-threatening conditions, including respiratory failure, blood clotting and infection.
"I want to emphasize the fact that this was a potentially catastrophic injury," Cappuccino said.
Cappuccino said that Everett suffered direct compression of his spinal cord between the C-3 and C-4 vertebrae, but that the spinal cord was not snapped.
At the Bills' practice field Monday, Everett's well-being weighed on the minds of his teammates and coaches, and it overshadowed discussion of the team's collapse versus Denver.
The Bills were ahead in the third quarter 14-6, and Denver's winning points came on a rushed 42-yard Jason Elam field goal as time ran out.
Bills receiver Roscoe Parrish was a teammate of Everett's at the University of Miami. Both were drafted by the Bills in 2005, Parrish in the second round and Everett in the third.
"It's a tough situation, being that I know Kevin real good," Parrish said. "Every day I communicate with him. His locker's right next to mine. We just have that bond."
On Monday, Everett's locker sat undisturbed, a schedule and his cleats resting atop a stool.
Asked his feelings toward Everett, punter Brian Moorman, appearing near tears, said: "I don't think I can describe for myself, for my teammates. It's very surreal."
Watching his teammate down on the field Sunday, Moorman was reminded of Mike Utley, an offensive lineman with the Detroit Lions, who was paralyzed during a game in November 1991.
Utley, who is paralyzed from the chest down, famously made a thumbs-up sign as he was carted off the field. Today he runs the Mike Utley Foundation to benefit those who have had spinal cord injuries.
"You expect him to bounce up," Utley said of Everett's hit. "The stars just lined up and he got caught. There's not too many of us that have been injured like this on the football field. As devastating as this injury is, the track record is very good for the NFL with the equipment we wear. This is a rarity."
Before his injury, Everett appeared on the verge of making an impact with the Bills. His first two seasons had been mostly derailed because of injuries, and he played in 16 games, starting five. Finally healthy in training camp this year, Everett moved up to No. 2 on the depth chart behind Robert Royal.
"You could clearly see it," Bills coach Dick Jauron said about Everett's improvement. "He was playing a lot more snaps. He was featured. Kevin has done a terrific job."