FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Just as he had a thousand times before throughout the course of his seven-year professional career, Andrew Farrell slid in to block a shot during a mid-February training session at Gillette Stadium. But on this particular occasion, what happened next could hardly have been predicted.
As the shot flew past Farrell, he turned quickly to see if it had found the net. It hadn’t. What the shot did find, unfortunately, was the post, and as the ball ricocheted violently back into the field of play, it hit Farrell square in the left eye, which he didn’t have time to close before impact.