Owings Mills, Md. • His eyeball felt like it would burst.
In the first game of the NFL season, Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy pursued Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a potential sack when he got too low. With his body prone and his arms at his sides, Van Noy’s helmet skidded in the grass, his chin strap slipped under his chin, and the top of his helmet came down over his eyes. Then Mahomes fell on Van Noy’s head and Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike fell on both of them.
Van Noy’s eye socket took the brunt of the weight. His eyeball didn’t burst, but his orbital socket fractured in two places.
The result was excessive bleeding through his nose, double vision, sinus issues, sleep problems and breathing difficulty. Season-ending surgery was recommended by doctors but dismissed by the patient.
Van Noy refused to miss a game because of the fractures
If you look closely at the 33-year-old’s eyes, you will notice the area around his right eye still doesn’t align perfectly with the left.
But what you mostly see in those eyes is resilience.
In the offseason, the Ravens were the only team that expressed interest in signing him. Now? Van Noy has the fourth most sacks in the NFL, and his 11 hard seasons could be a case study in how the league fails to take advantage of players’ gifts.
At BYU, Van Noy was a stand-up edge rusher. In four college seasons, he had 26 sacks, 62 tackles for a loss, 11 forced fumbles and seven interceptions. In the spring of 2014, he was widely considered the best 3-4 outside linebacker in the draft.
The Detroit Lions chose him with the 40th pick, then, logic be damned, had him play strongside linebacker in a four-man front, meaning he wouldn’t be rushing the passer very much. It was kind of like telling a concert pianist to play electric guitar.
