Panthers tight end Greg Olsen done for season, maybe forever

The Panthers tight end re-aggravated his foot injury on Sunday.

It breaks my heart to write this. Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen suffered an injury during Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and for that his career may be over. Having battled injuries all season, Olsen reaggravated one on Sunday.

The tight end told reporters that he suffered a ruptured plantar fascia in his right foot. He also said that he does not expect to return this season.

"“It all just stems from what I’ve got going on and the amount of trauma that’s happened in this foot over the last two seasons now,” Olsen said. “We held on, we did the best we could. We got as much out of it as I think we could have. I think my foot has had enough.”"

After being known as sort of an Ironman over the course of his career, he has run into some injury problems. He missed nine games last season due to a Jones fracture, and he missed the first four weeks of this season. As some of you may recall, he refractured his foot. However, he was determined to play as soon as possible this season and did so valiantly.

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Olsen presumably finishes the 2018 campaign with 26 catches for 278 yards and four touchdowns.

I truly think that we may have seen the last of Greg Olsen. His foot just does not want to cooperate anymore. Now in his 12th season, it is safe to say that he has had a great career. He is currently number three on the Panthers all-time receiving list with 3,853 yards accumulated. He ranks number four among all-time Panthers receivers with 37 touchdowns, and he ranks number eight in Panthers history in games played with 111.

This is a sad way for one of the greatest players in Panthers history to go out. He is a player who is tough as nails, and it finally caught up to him after all these years. I was hoping that maybe he could at least finish the season before retiring and that he would stay healthy throughout it. Unfortunately, that does not look to be the case. This game may have been Olsen’s swansong. If so, he has had a great career.

In particular, he had a great stretch between 2014-2016. He put up tremendous numbers there, accumulating over 1,000 yards in each of those seasons. The 2015 campaign, when he put up 1,104 yards and snagged seven touchdowns was perhaps his best season in a Carolina Panthers uniform. To date, that may be the best season for the Panthers organization in recent memory. They went to the Super Bowl and in the process showed everyone they were a force to be reckoned with.

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With a heavy heart, I have to say that we may have seen the last of Greg Olsen. He has suffered too many injuries over the course of the last year to not make retiring a priority. He has fought hard to continue playing but at last his body caught up with him. Congratulations on a great career Greg, and thank you for all you have done for the Panthers.

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