Almost everyone has had a cooking accident in their lives. But even when you know your way around the kitchen, mistakes are bound to occur, and that happens to be the case for Cardinals defensive back Antonio Hamilton.
According to NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the six-year NFL veteran was cooking food when he accidentally spilled hot oil on himself. The main area of impact was his lower body, and according to the picture of himself he sent out after his accident, the burns seem to be all over his legs and feet.
Had the greatest camp of my career & last Monday I had a accident that could've ended up deadly for me & my family but instead I got the short end of it by having my feet severely burned (2nd degree). It was literally a freak accident and God spared me to only have these injuries pic.twitter.com/8SXhJjzZbW
— Antonio Hamilton (@UnitedSt8Of_Ham) September 1, 2022
While the second-degree burns are obviously non-life threatening, the Arizona Cardinals have placed Hamilton on the reserve/non-football injury list, which means he will miss at least the first four games of the season.
Tough break for Hamilton, but from his perspective he’s lucky to even be alive.
“Had the greatest camp of my career & last Monday I had a accident that could’ve ended up deadly for me & my family but instead I got the short end of it by having my feet severely burned (2nd degree),” he tweeted on Thursday. “It was literally a freak accident and God spared me to only have these injuries.”
Surviving something that Hamilton describes as a “freak accident” can put things into perspective for someone, and that is keeping Hamilton humble, though Hamilton already kept his feet close to the ground, especially when looking at his journeyman career before he finally broke through with the Cardinals.
Hamilton signed with the Oakland Raiders in 2018 as an undrafted free agent. He spent two years with that franchise before playing with the New York Giants for two years, and then spent a single year in Kansas City with the Chiefs.
In 2021, he signed with the Arizona Cardinals, and had his best year statistically, playing every game (though he has not missed a game since 2018). Spending most of his career as a special teams member, in 2021 when he joined Arizona he produced 38 tackles, more than doubling his previous career best. He also recorded four pass breakups, which is the best in his career so far. In his career, he has 88 tackles, and 9 passes defended.
The 29-year-old South Carolina State product had an amazing training camp and preseason, which led to him being slated to be a mainstay for the Cardinals this season.
The Cardinals, who will be without Hamilton for a quarter of the season, will have to rely on Byron Murphy Jr., Marco Wilson, Trayvon Mullen, and Javelin Guidry, and will most likely pick up another cornerback off waivers or a practice squad to supplement their depth chart until Hamilton’s return.
Antonio Hamilton is extremely lucky to have survived such a horrible accident, and this will only motivate and push him to go harder when he comes back. The Cardinals have high expectations and have secured their quarterback for the future with Kyler Murray’s $230M deal. If Hamilton can recover from those burns in just over a month’s time he will surely be ready to return to the field.
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