Indiana Defensive Lineman Stephen Daley, 2nd Team All-American Edge Rusher, Appears To Have Been Injured Celebrating B1G Championship

That sucks. So bad. It sucks for Indiana. It sucks for college football. It especially sucks for Stephen Daley. Who just made 2nd Team All-American in his only season with the Indiana Hoosiers, after suffering through 21 STRAIGHT LOSSES playing at Kent State. Before this season, Stephen Daley hadn't beat an FBS team since November 2022. To go from three years of bottom of the barrel MAC football, to being 2nd in the nation with 19 TFL's on the #1 ranked team in all of college football... 

Making lesser Big Ten offensive lines look like high schoolers all year long.

Forcing a massive interception in Autzen Stadium vs an undefeated Oregon Ducks team. 

And doing shit like this, working ALL the way across the line of scrimmage to stuff the run in the Big Ten Championship vs the Ohio State Buckeyes (#8, lined up over the LT).

After all that… after his defense holds the #1 ranked OSU to 10 points, he get injured during the celebration. Sports don't get much crueler than that. 

It never ceases to amaze me how these elite athletes can put their bodies through absolute hell, and suffer through endless collisions with the strongest, fastest men the world has to offer, and just one wrong completely harmless looking step can put you on a cart. It's insane. I don't understand it. The human body doesn't make sense. 

Hoosier fans are still holding on to a sliver of hope that Daley's injury might be not be as bad as it seems. There's been no official word yet from Cignetti or the team. The Rose Bowl doesn't even happen until next year (3 weeks from Thursday). At this point, fans are simply putting two-and-two together. But to put it mildly, it's not looking great. 

If Stephen Daley is in fact out for the playoffs… well, shit. Next man up, Indiana. Nobody ever said they got to this point by being the most talented. It's the best coached defensive line in football. They've been dealing with injuries all season. They're no stranger to shuffling players around. Hell, Stephen Daley wasn't even a starter until nearly halfway through the season. He's the man who stepped up when Kellan Wyatt went out early this year. 

I'm sure Hoosier's DC Bryant Haines will come up with some creative new packages. Sophomore Daniel Ndukwe, who Indiana has high hopes for, is likely going to see a lot more snaps. Or maybe Curt Cignetti will take the podium in a week and reveal that x-rays came back negative and Stephen Daley will be perfectly fine after all. We still don't know for sure. But fuck… that is a painful video to watch for a Hoosiers fan.