Twitter: Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch confirms he's returning in 2020

[Doomsday101]

It means nothing to you because you don’t like the sound of it. It was speculated after his neck surgery that it could threaten his career. After the surgery Garrett said we don’t “think” it’s career threatening. His neck will end up retiring him before he’s 30.

Maybe so. I can't say if he will play a year or play for the next 6 years. I have not been in consultation with LVE or the doctors who performed the surgery nor do I have any information on their views of his long term future. Anyone making claims pro or con is speculation and nothing more. For the most part I think all players are pretty much year to year given the physical nature of the game it could all come crashing down in 1 play at any given time.

 

[KJJ]

Again who cares what the tweet said. The tweet means literally nothing. That’s not LVE

It means nothing to you. My response was to the tweet.

 

[KJJ]

KJJ, I think you have an axe to grind!

It’s a sharp axe.

 

[Proof]

It was announced by the team he would be ready for the 2020 season after his surgery. The team downplayed it as a “procedure.” Players don’t confirm they’re returning for a season if they’re not considering retirement. He underwent neck surgery and has a narrowing of the spine which has retired several players.

yes I understand your point. I also understand that nearly every player who suffers a serious injury or is placed on the IR for the remainder of a season announced whether they’ll return for the next season or not. The only additional context in this situation is that random people have speculated that it was career threatening, making some form of affirmation necessary or appreciated. You may in turn be right that he’s year to year and career may be cut short, but him making a tweet / IG post about the upcoming season does not in any way mean he was contemplating retirement. Just that he feels good to go after surgery and recovery.

 

[KJJ]

Maybe so. I can't say if he will play a year or play for the next 6 years. I have not been in consultation with LVE or the doctors who performed the surgery nor do I have any information on their views of his long term future. Anyone making claims pro or con is speculation and nothing more. For the most part I think all players are pretty much year to year given the physical nature of the game it could all come crashing down in 1 play at any given time.

It’s a neck injury and reports were that he had neck problems in college. Having next surgery is a serious thing for a football player. There’s been more than one thread since the season ended about his neck and prognosis. We’ll just have to see how it plays out with him. Personally I don’t think he’s going to have a long career because of this.

 

[KJJ]

yes I understand your point. I also understand that nearly every player who suffers a serious injury or is placed on the IR for the remainder of a season announced whether they’ll return for the next season or not. The only additional context in this situation is that random people have speculated that it was career threatening, making some form of affirmation necessary or appreciated. You may in turn be right that he’s year to year and career may be cut short, but him making a tweet / IG post about the upcoming season does not in any way mean he was contemplating retirement. Just that he feels good to go after surgery and recovery.

I’m not going spend all day arguing this. If you don’t like my opinion that’s fine. There’s been a number of discussions about his neck since he had the surgery. His neck is going to end up retiring him at some point. I said last season that it wouldn’t surprise me if Frederick didn’t play much longer.

 

[WoodysGirl]

All I’ve seen is the tweet. There’s been a lot of discussion on his neck since he had the surgery. Retirement may not have been in the discussion but I think it’s going to be at some point. He has a narrowing of the spine which is what Michael Irvin had. I’ll be surprised if he plays until he’s 30.

I understand that all you've seen is the tweet. There's a pic in the tweet from LVE's instagram account. It's truly a nothing type of post, but seeing all the dialogue about LVE lately, I took it to mean he's feeling healthy.

 

[OmerV]

If he has a down or average year in 2020 does he become trade bait when the seasons over?

Pot stirrer.

 

[phildadon86]

Head and neck injuries retire players more than anything. He must have been contemplating retirement or he wouldn’t have announced he was returning in 2020. I wouldn’t bet on him finishing out his contract.

I love it when people here assume and state as fact what is going thru another mans mind. No way he could just be telling us he is playing to calm the fan base and was told to do so by his agent. No way that’s possible.

 

[KJJ]

I love it when people here assume and state as fact what is going thru another mans mind. No way he could just be telling us he is playing to calm the fan base and was told to do so by his agent. No way that’s possible.

When a player undergoes neck surgery and has spinal stenosis it’s not hard to speculate what has to be going through their mind.

 

[Ranched]

Again who cares what the tweet said. The tweet means literally nothing. That’s not LVE

Exactly. Never even heard of the guy who Tweeted this. Unless Cowboys news comes from a well known source touche' to these unknown Tweeters lol.

Here's a reputable link that confirmed the kid' return back in February. I wish him the best as he continues his young career in the NFL. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/2142424/leighton-vander-esch

 

[Proof]

I’m not going spend all day arguing this. If you don’t like my opinion that’s fine. There’s been a number of discussions about his neck since he had the surgery. His neck is going to end up retiring him at some point. I said last season that it wouldn’t surprise me if Frederick didn’t play much longer.

I don’t care about your opinion, and I literally said you may be right about it. You’re just wrong about what this innocuous “announcement” means. I’d prefer not to argue all day either

 

[KJJ]

I understand that all you've seen is the tweet. There's a pic in the tweet from LVE's instagram account. It's truly a nothing type of post, but seeing all the dialogue about LVE lately, I took it to mean he's feeling healthy.

I’m sure he’s feeling good and wants to sound optimistic but undergoing neck surgery and having spinal stenosis is concerning. Michael Irvin had spinal stenosis which has retired a number of players. When it was first reported that he has spinal stenosis that alarmed a lot of fans. I’ll be very surprised if he plays until he’s 30 with this condition.

 

[KJJ]

I don’t care about your opinion, and I literally said you may be right about it. You’re just wrong about what this innocuous “announcement” means. I’d prefer not to argue all day either

You want me to be wrong but he underwent neck surgery and has spinal stenosis. If he continues to have issues with his neck he’s going to be calling it quits.

 

[Doomsday101]

It’s a neck injury and reports were that he had neck problems in college. Having next surgery is a serious thing for a football player. There’s been more than one thread since the season ended about his neck and prognosis. We’ll just have to see how it plays out with him. Personally I don’t think he’s going to have a long career because of this.

I'm not saying it is not, what I am saying is none of us know because we are not given the information he was received from doctors. You can speculate and say you think his career will be over by such and such time but it is a purely speculation. Again I'm not saying what he will or will not do, I don't know. I'm being honest I truly do not know nor do I pretend to know. Right now all I know is he is playing and I hope to see him out there producing as he has before the injury.

 

[KJJ]

I'm not saying it is not, what I am saying is none of us know because we are not given the information he was received from doctors. You can speculate and say you think his career will be over by such and such time but it is a purely speculation. Again I'm not saying what he will or will not do, I don't know. I'm being honest I truly do not know nor do I pretend to know. Right now all I know is he is playing and I hope to see him out there producing as he has before the injury.

I didn’t say his career was over, I said I don’t think he’ll have a long career. If he can’t get back to the level of play of his rookie year and continues to have problems with his neck he’ll retire. It won’t come as a surprise to me if he hangs it up within the next three years.

 

[KJJ]

The Cowboys are hoping spinal stenosis doesn’t cut LVE’s career short.


https://www.___GET_REAL_URL___/s/am...orts/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article238691243.html

 

[G2]

The key thing here is if he needs a second surgery he will be forced to retire, so another injury could potentially write his future.

 

[Proof]

You want me to be wrong but he underwent neck surgery and has spinal stenosis. If he continues to have issues with his neck he’s going to be calling it quits.

uhhh are you reading what I’m writing? Lol.

 

[KJJ]

uhhh are you reading what I’m writing? Lol.

You said you didn’t want to argue all day about it either. So let’s move on.