They are doing marvelous things with knee surgery these days. We have seen some horrendous leg and knee injuries during college and pro football games recently and just a few years ago having the lower part of your leg sticking out at a 90 degree angle from your knee meant a long, painful recovery or, in many cases, it meant an end to an otherwise promising career……not to mention that a knee injury is one of the most painful things that an athlete (or anyone else) will ever have to endure.
Three names come to mind when thinking about what seemed to be catastrophic injuries to the knee. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings not only recovered from ACL surgery, he came back and almost broke Eric Dickerson’s’ long standing single season rushing record…..he came up only 9 yards short.
South Carolina fans were appalled to see promising running back Marcus Lattimore go down with his lower leg sticking out at an angle that made grown men nauseous to look at. He also had the new ACL operation and only 3 months later is able to do light workouts and even some jogging in the pool. He is most defiantly not ready for contact football but he surely seems to be on the road to recovery. Lattimore full expects to be playing again next season.
The most spectacular, as well as the most controversial, knee injury of the year occurred to Robert Griffin III. Head Coach Mike Shannahan has taken a lot or criticism for leaving RGIII in the game when he was so obviously limping around out there in pain. Sure, Griffin wanted to stay in the game because that is just the kind of guy that he is. All out for the team….one more for the Gipper. His attitude is admirable but still, he should have been on the bench to start the second half of that game. He had an excellent backup quarterback sitting on the bench and no doubt just itching to get into the game.
Griffin is expected to appear next season for the Vikings but probably will not start on opening day. His ability to move around in the backfield and avoid pass rushers has been seriously compromised and we will probably never again see the spectacular type of scrambling that endeared RGIII to fans everywhere.