Bills rookie LB Arthur Moats suddenly became much more of a household name after knocking Brett Favre out of Sunday's game and possibly ending the legendary quarterback's consecutive games streak at 297 if he's unable to play this week against the Giants.
Moats delivered a thundering blow from behind driving Favre into the turf on the third play from scrimmage in Sunday's game against the Vikings at the Metrodome. Favre rolled over onto his back holding his throwing hand and wincing in pain. The veteran signal caller left the game and did not return, but the injury had nothing to do with his hand.
Instead the injury was to his right shoulder and rendered him unable to throw on Sunday.
"They are saying sprained SC (sternoclavicular) joint, collarbone," said Favre. "I couldn't throw. I tried to on the sidelines."
Moats, who has all of a half sack in his NFL career, initially didn't know what to make of his hit. He was just happy his pass pressure led to a turnover as Favre's errant pass was intercepted by Drayton Florence.
"During the play you're not thinking that it's Brett Favre," he said. "You're thinking that's a quarterback and my job is to sack him. You hit him and you get excited, but then you see him on the ground and then he doesn't come back in the game and then I was thinking, 'Oh man.' And then he went to the locker room and you start to think about what you did.
"Then after the game I saw my phone had all these text messages, and then you get home and all this stuff is on ESPN. It definitely became a bigger thing than I thought it was at the time. You feel good that you could make that play against the quarterback of that caliber."
For Favre a sprained SC joint is new territory, so he's unsure as to how he'll respond.
"If we were talking ankles or elbows, thumbs or something like that, I would probably be a little more up to date on how to deal with it," said Favre. "First time in 20 years I have ever done anything like that, so it is kind of surprising. Again, I couldn't come back in, which is somewhat unusual. I'll take it day to day. I'm not overly concerned right now. I'm just going to see what the MRI says. I have no idea. Once again, I've never had this injury. We'll see how it responds to treatment."
Sunday was start number 297 for Favre's NFL record consecutive games streak, but knowing the injury is unfamiliar and the fact that it's Favre's throwing shoulder, the streak could very well be in jeopardy.
Favre however, did not seem overly concerned.
"I don't know about worried," said Favre when asked if the injury would end his career a few games early. "You're probably referring more to a streak or something like that. It's my 20th year. If I was a second year guy and we were talking about career that would be a concern. There are not many games left for me either way. I would like to see it through, I would like to play. It's what I came in here for. This is a different injury. I have no idea how I will respond to the week of treatment, so we will see."
Moats is hopeful that Favre's streak will continue knowing if he doesn't that he'll forever be a footnote on the future Hall of Famer's career.
"I don't want to be the guy that hurt Brett Favre," said Moats. "I don't want to see anybody hurting and not playing anymore. If he plays that would be a good thing, but if he doesn't and I was the guy to end the streak then it's going to be a little notable."
