Football is a tough and physical game, but no part of the game is as difficult as the battle in the trenches.
Vita Vea helped prove it Sunday afternoon when he lost a tooth during the Buccaneers’ Week 12 game against the Colts while attempting to fight through Indianapolis’s offensive line.
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Vea, a 346-pound defensive player, was paired with a play by midfielder Ryan Kelly and guard Mark Glowinski. His helmet started to slide up and he took a smack in the chin from Glowinski. That knocked his tooth out, as you can see in the replay below.
Vea doesn’t seem too bothered about this shot. He turned to the sidelines and pointed to the newly formed gap in his smile. He also doesn’t miss much time with the little problem. He continued to work to prevent Jonathan Taylor from creating shots from midfield.
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Believe it or not, Vea is not the first defense to lose a tooth in a game in recent seasons. Passer Carl Lawson once lost several teeth while playing for the Bengal team. He describes nearly firing the Browns’ then-midfielder DeShone Kizer as it happened in 2017:
“I went around the touchline, and I thought I had a sack, but they said the ball was going forward,” Lawson said. ESPN. “When I brought him down, I just saw my teeth in the air for two seconds. I was like, ‘Damn it.'”
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Lawson was not wearing a mouth guard when he lost his teeth. Looks like Vea is too, so maybe he’ll reconsider that decision after losing one of his pearly whites.
And maybe he’ll be reaching out to Lawson, now with the Jets, to see if he can recommend a way to replace his now-missing tooth.
