Really really tough to be disappointed with a Sports Illustrated cover about the culture of big hits in the NFL that features Sheldon Brown exploding Reggie Bush in the divisional playoff game from January. Six months later, I’m not remotely bored with the video of said hit (though the NFL keeps trying to pull them off the GooTube).  I enjoy it every time. 

The cover would have been enough, but it was the quote from Sheldon Brown that’ll make the whole thing memorable:

“He was lucky,” Brown says. “His elbow was pinned against his body, protecting his rib cage, or else I probably would have broken his rib. What did it feel like? That collision, I didn’t feel nothing, because he was pretty much defenseless. It was like running through a cardboard box. Seriously. Cardboard box.”

Seriously. Cardboard box.

Link:
The Big Hit [CNNSI.com]