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It probably wouldn't take much to beat me in this league... I can't get lucky 3 times in a row. Unless of course you decide to take NBA teams over NFL teams (Atlanta HAWKS)

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Hahahaha....this made me laugh. What a fool I am. But interesting to see, you're the first who noticed it. Hawks or falcons...both birds...period.

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It was eagerly anticipated news when the Bills provided an update on Kevin Everett Monday afternoon, following his game halting spine injury on the second half kickoff of Sunday's loss to Denver. But the update only gave a clearer picture as to the severity of what is still a potentially lethal injury, and the steps that were taken to give him the greatest chance for recovery.

Everett suffered a fracture dislocation between the third and fourth cervical vertebra. So there was an injury to the cervical spine and cervical spinal cord. But the spinal cord was intact. There was disc material pushing on the cord and bone was applying pressure as well.

"The vertebrae were out of alignment," said team orthopedist Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, who specializes in injuries of the spine. "The vertebrae of the spine line up like box cars of a train. The third cervical vertebra had translocated completely over the front of the fourth cervical vertebra causing a scissoring effect on the spinal cord."

"Emergency decompressive surgery was performed Sunday night to prevent pinching of the spinal cord," said team medical director Dr. John Marzo as part of a Monday afternoon press conference at One Bills Drive.

The surgery was performed by Cappuccino and Dr. Kevin Gibbons at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital in downtown Buffalo after consent was granted by Everett who was awake and alert along with his mother who was reached by phone. The surgery lasted about four hours as Everett had his third and fourth vertebrae fused together.

"Dr. Gibbons and myself worked first on the front side of the cervical spine to remove the disc, realign the spine and to fixate the spine between the third and fourth vertebrae with a bone graft, with a small cage, and with a plate and four screws," said Cappuccino. "We had the spine in good alignment and it was confirmed on all x-ray studies."

The second half of the surgery involved placing Everett face down.

"A second incision was made on the back of his neck," said Cappuccino. "The spine was decompressed or the pressure was relieved. The spinal cord was completely decompressed and the spine was fixated from the back with four screws and two small rods. At that point in time an intra-operative ultrasound was performed to evaluate the cord, the covering of the cord and the cord itself were completely intact and looked good."

Everett, who spoke to his mother personally before the surgery, said he did not want her to worry and that he loved her and his sisters and that he would get better according to Cappuccino. His mother has since arrived in Buffalo from Texas and saw her son in his sedated state.

Following surgery he was placed in the intensive care unit and was put on a respirator by choice as high cervical spine injuries carry a greater risk of respiratory failure if respiratory support is not provided. Everett was also placed in a deeply sedated drug-induced state to protect the integrity of the surgical procedure.

Prior to putting him in that state, Everett had decreased sensation, but the ability to feel all of his limbs. This test also showed voluntary movement in his legs, though it was being stated by the doctors that it is only a preliminary result and should be construed as neither a positive nor negative result. It's too early for a prognosis which is why Everett's case is being labeled an incomplete spinal cord injury.

The doctors at this time do not know whether the injury will contract or expand from this point forward. An accurate prognosis will likely not be determined for another 72 hours at the earliest.

Dr. Cappuccino cautioned that Everett is still considered to be in a life-threatening situation, though his chances are improved following surgery.

"I want to caution everyone to understand that this was early in the healing phase and this is not a prognostic indicator and this young man suffered a potentially lethal and grave injury," said Cappuccino. "So we are still gravely concerned."

On the positive side Everett's high fitness level as an NFL player is deemed an asset in his battle to recover from this severe injury according to the physicians.

As far as assessing Everett's chances of walking again Cappuccino said the tight end's chances are not good.

"By life I'm an optimist, but as a scientist and a clinician I have to tell you statistically the chances of that occurring are very small," Cappuccino said.

According to Cappuccino, Everett remembered the entire play that led to this severe injury. Prior to surgery the team's spinal specialist informed Everett that his chances for a full neurologic recovery were less than five to 10 percent and that surgery was his best alternative but still an option. Everett chose surgery.

"Kevin said, 'Do everything that you can to help me with this,'" said Cappuccino

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Patricia Dugas reached out, touched Kevin Everett's arm and asked her son if he could feel her hand. Everett - lying in a hospital bed, barely awake and hooked to life support systems - nodded yes.

"I can't even explain it to you; he's like a miracle," Dugas said Wednesday, her voice breaking in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Everett can wiggle his toes, bend his hip, move his ankles, elevate and kick his leg, as well as extend his elbows and slightly flex his biceps, said Dr. Kevin Gibbons, the supervisor of neurosurgery at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital.

But Everett, who's breathing on his own after being taken off a respirator Wednesday, cannot move his hands after sustaining a life-threatening spinal cord injury.

"There are some answers now. And many more questions remain," Gibbons said in an update to reporters. "The patient's made significant improvement. But no one should think the functions in his legs is close to normal. Not even close. ... If you ask me, 'Would he walk again?' I would tell you that I wouldn't bet against it. But he has a long way to go."

Bills orthopedic surgeon Andrew Cappuccino improved his prognosis, too, saying he's "cautiously slightly more optimistic." That's a big improvement from Monday when Cappuccino said Everett's chances for a full neurologic recovery were "bleak, dismal."

Dugas left her home in Port Arthur, Texas, on Monday not knowing whether her son would ever walk again. Everything changed Tuesday, when she watched her son move his limbs and feel her touch when he was partially awakened from a sedated state.

She spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday, knowing doctors had amended their initial grim prognosis.

"That's right. They're surprised themselves," Dugas said. "They don't know Kevin Everett. Oh, man, I always told him when he was a little boy, 'You show them better than you can tell them.' He's going to be fine. I really believe it."

Emotionally drained yet genuinely upbeat, Dugas let out a big laugh in discussing the last four difficult days.

"Happy," said Dugas, who has spent the past three days at her son's bedside. "I'm extremely happy. I'm grateful."

Everett sustained the injury Sunday after ducking his head while tackling the Denver Broncos' Domenik Hixon during the second-half kickoff of the Bills' season opener. He dropped face-first to the ground after his helmet hit Hixon high on the left shoulder and side of the helmet.

Unable to get the Bills game on TV at home, Everett's mother called several sports bars and learned one just around the corner was showing the game.

Dugas walked in just as the second half began, just in time to see her son fall to the ground.

"That's the first thing I saw. I was so upset. I was distraught, and I started panicking, 'What can I do? And I've got to get to him because he's not getting up,"' she said. "I can't explain to you how I felt, because there's no words for it. It was the worst thing I had ever saw."

"'Get up,"' Dugas recalled saying. "I mean, I can't explain it. It was just horrible."

With help from some bar patrons, Dugas composed herself, went home and immediately began making plans to travel to Buffalo.

Then came the next shock.

Cappuccino called from the hospital to inform Dugas of her son's condition. A few minutes later, Everett was on the phone.

"He put him on the phone and (Everett) said, 'Momma, don't worry. I love you. I love my sisters. I know I'll be all right,"' Dugas said. "He asked if I was coming, and I said, 'Momma is coming. You don't even worry about that."'

Despite knowing Everett's condition, Dugas was comforted by hearing his voice.

"I was so proud of him, laying in the condition that he was in and thinking about me, his family" she said.

His Bills family isn't just thinking about him - numerous players also visited Everett on their day off Tuesday.

"I started cracking little jokes to keep him upbeat," tight end Robert Royal said. "He was actually laughing a little bit when we were talking about football stuff. ... He was excited, and we told him we would stick by him no matter what."

Coach Dick Jauron, who also visited Everett, acknowledged it would be difficult for his team to prepare to play at Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"There's no way to pretend that Kevin's situation does not occupy our thoughts and our conversations a lot of the time. It certainly does," Jauron said. "But I think our guys are professional enough, and they really care enough about what they do."

Dugas went out of her way to thank the Bills, the hospital medical staff and fans for their work and support. Part of her time with Everett is spent reading him the many cards and letters that already have arrived at the hospital.

"We're going to take it slow getting him up on his feet, but we hope to see him walk out of here," she said. "He has a strong will and determination. I tell you, he's not going to settle for this. You're all going to see a miracle."

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