Sturm thinks there is more the story re: Tony's shoulder

[perrykemp]

Sturm did a fairly big Q&A that can be found here:

http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...oys-mailbag-part-1-doubting-tony-romos-future

His response re: Tony's shoulder was a bit disturbing. Sturm makes no pretense to indicate it's anything other than his opinion/speculation, however, I've got a lot of respect for Sturm and I hope in this particular case he is wrong.

Here is the excerpt:

"Here it is: I don't think Romo's situation can be classified as a QB with "injury issues" anymore. Rather, I would suggest that Romo's collarbone situation would have to be called a "ticking time bomb." I think his future is week to week, not year to year. No longer a question of "if", but rather a matter of "when". I think that his collarbone has obviously not mended like they had first hoped and so here we sit - 159 days since Jordan Hicks broke it in September and 92 days since Thomas Davis got him again on Thanksgiving Day - without any further resolution that he is as good as new and ready to play. I might remind you that the Cowboys resisted the obvious plans of putting him on injured reserve because they originally assumed he would be available for the NFC Championship Game which was played on January 24th. 33 days ago.​

So, I don't believe his collarbone has mended properly since Thankgsiving. And I sure don't believe it healed like they thought it would from September - as evidenced best that he broke it again on a rather normal-looking hit on Thankgsiving Day. I am far from a medical expert, but I can read a calendar. When they talk about this 8-10 weeks business and we sit here at the end of February and discuss further procedures, but still under the banner of "everything is fine and there is no reason for alarm", I am tempted to sound the sirens. I am not buying it anymore. This Mumford procedure that discusses shaving off part of the clavicle seems like a very odd way to strengthen a collarbone. I am positive I am showing my medical ignorance, but I also am assuming that most people having that procedure are not having 300 lb linemen like Fletcher Cox or Johnathan Hankins trying to slam them right on their collarbone at their first chance in an effort to remove the Cowboys biggest and most indispensible weapon from the proceedings.​

I don't like it. In fact, I don't believe the rhetoric coming out of Valley Ranch on this topic anymore. I don't believe this 5-year window nonsense, and frankly, I don't believe they believe it either. There have been 8 QBs who were starters when Tony Romo took over the job in Dallas and remain starters today (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, and Romo). The only one to have started as few games as Romo is Palmer, and that is only because the injury-prone Palmer also has a 9-game contract holdout to his credit. In other words, Romo has the worst health-related attendance record in his peer group, and it doesn't look like it will ever get better."​

 

[Reality]

I tend to disagree with this. I believe it has mended, but they are concerned that now that he has broken it twice, the odds are really good he will break it again. I don't think this is as much about mending as it is about trying to find a way to prevent it from breaking again. Because of Tony's age, they won't get several chances as this. They have to pick the winning solution right now and so far, it is likely that none of the potential solutions stands above the others which would explain the delay in having any procedure done.

 

[Aikmaniac]

I respect Sturm and his opinions.

This is the first I've seen of Tony's career being immediately threatened by the injury. The reality of him not being our quarterback has been a thought way in the back of my mind. I don't like the thought. Makes this Friday not very happy.

 

[jterrell]

That sufficiently scares the crap out of me and ruins my morning..............................................

 

[dmq]

Tony, get out while you can still walk.

 

[JoeKing]

Panic stricken to the hilt. Romo is Romo until he isn't Romo. What does that mean? It means Romo is our guy and our guy is entitled to the benefit of a doubt until he proves he's done. That doesn't mean you don't prepare for life without Romo right now but keep your calm. Worse case scenario, we'll just be in the same situation in a year and then it gets fixed. But at least then we'll know the Romo era is over or not.

 

[pancakeman]

Tony, get out while you can still walk.

The only thing that makes me sadder than Tony not getting his ring, is Tony hobbled through his whole retirement because he gave his all during his playing days.

 

[Pandora]

This Mumford procedure that discusses shaving off part of the clavicle seems ..

The Mumford procedure as described in the DFW media over the last few days sounds like no big deal, and it probably isn't from a purely surgical point of view. But they are cutting away part of the bone because the bone can't be brought back to its original strength.

That is indeed concerning.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I respect Sturm and his opinions.

This is the first I've seen of Tony's career being immediately threatened by the injury. The reality of him not being our quarterback has been a thought way in the back of my mind. I don't like the thought. Makes this Friday not very happy.

So it takes Sturm to convince you of what many have been saying for a few years now? Ok, well at least your at the spot. Now try to imagine the reality we sit in. Romo could go down at any time for the collarbone or back. And now he is 36 years old. All we can do pray is that the Jones crew is playing dumb to all of us and will be taking a QB with the 4th pick. I can tell you personally I have little hope at all for that.

It really is a pipe dream to think we can win one with Romo here at the end. Romo is one of my favorite QB's and I have stuck up for him for 10 years. But its not just about Romo. This team is nowhere near what it needs to be and the chances it all comes together for one miraculous run is slim to none.

If you can get yourself to accept the fact that the Romo era is over and gone by the wayside it becomes a no brainer that taking a QB with the 4th pick is the right move. And even if we do take one, Romo will still be the QB here for at least another two years as long as he is healthy. By any stretch of the imagination this team is NOT a first round pick away from anything. And lets not forget that with Romo's recent injury history a new young stud at QB will more than likely play a good bit in the next two years. He may actually wind up being the difference between making the playoffs one year if he can keep us in the hunt while Romo recovers from an injury.

 

[Doc50]

Sturm did a fairly big Q&A that can be found here:

http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...oys-mailbag-part-1-doubting-tony-romos-future

His response re: Tony's shoulder was a bit disturbing. Sturm makes no pretense to indicate it's anything other than his opinion/speculation, however, I've got a lot of respect for Sturm and I hope in this particular case he is wrong.

Here is the excerpt:

"Here it is: I don't think Romo's situation can be classified as a QB with "injury issues" anymore. Rather, I would suggest that Romo's collarbone situation would have to be called a "ticking time bomb." I think his future is week to week, not year to year. No longer a question of "if", but rather a matter of "when". I think that his collarbone has obviously not mended like they had first hoped and so here we sit - 159 days since Jordan Hicks broke it in September and 92 days since Thomas Davis got him again on Thanksgiving Day - without any further resolution that he is as good as new and ready to play. I might remind you that the Cowboys resisted the obvious plans of putting him on injured reserve because they originally assumed he would be available for the NFC Championship Game which was played on January 24th. 33 days ago.​

So, I don't believe his collarbone has mended properly since Thankgsiving. And I sure don't believe it healed like they thought it would from September - as evidenced best that he broke it again on a rather normal-looking hit on Thankgsiving Day. I am far from a medical expert, but I can read a calendar. When they talk about this 8-10 weeks business and we sit here at the end of February and discuss further procedures, but still under the banner of "everything is fine and there is no reason for alarm", I am tempted to sound the sirens. I am not buying it anymore. This Mumford procedure that discusses shaving off part of the clavicle seems like a very odd way to strengthen a collarbone. I am positive I am showing my medical ignorance, but I also am assuming that most people having that procedure are not having 300 lb linemen like Fletcher Cox or Johnathan Hankins trying to slam them right on their collarbone at their first chance in an effort to remove the Cowboys biggest and most indispensible weapon from the proceedings.​

I don't like it. In fact, I don't believe the rhetoric coming out of Valley Ranch on this topic anymore. I don't believe this 5-year window nonsense, and frankly, I don't believe they believe it either. There have been 8 QBs who were starters when Tony Romo took over the job in Dallas and remain starters today (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, and Romo). The only one to have started as few games as Romo is Palmer, and that is only because the injury-prone Palmer also has a 9-game contract holdout to his credit. In other words, Romo has the worst health-related attendance record in his peer group, and it doesn't look like it will ever get better."​

I agree that he is "showing my medical ignorance".

Just gotta write something, even if he has no idea what he's talking about.

 

[Doc50]

The Mumford procedure as described in the DFW media over the last few days sounds like no big deal, and it probably isn't from a purely surgical point of view. But they are cutting away part of the bone because the bone can't be brought back to its original strength.

That is indeed concerning.

No, it's not.

 

[Idgit]

I'm sure we'll have a medical opinion in here before long. My suspicion is that neither the breaks nor the Mumford procedure is likely a predictor of anything particularly negative. Either way, we've got to plan for a future without Romo starting yesterday, so it doesn't really matter.

 

[DBOY3141]

Age and injuries catch up to everyone. I see 2 good years left in Tony. Not going to say he will play all 16 games each of the next two years, but I think he only has 2 solid years left.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

The Mumford procedure as described in the DFW media over the last few days sounds like no big deal, and it probably isn't from a purely surgical point of view. But they are cutting away part of the bone because the bone can't be brought back to its original strength.

That is indeed concerning.

That isn't what they have said the procedure is for at all. Any discussion about surgery has always been focused on prevention. Everything that has come out about the bone healing has been positive.

Sturm is just straight up saying that the team is lying... he's not pretending to base his feelings on medical reasons.

 

[Doc50]

That sufficiently scares the crap out of me and ruins my morning..............................................

While I'm glad you had your morning BM, there is no reason for alarm -- there is no truth in Sturm's flawed logic.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I tend to disagree with this. I believe it has mended, but they are concerned that now that he has broken it twice, the odds are really good he will break it again. I don't think this is as much about mending as it is about trying to find a way to prevent it from breaking again.

There is the voice of reason.

 

[Ken]

Having broke and rebroke my collarbone 3 times in the matter of about 6 months....I can say confidently that the reason it broke a 2nd time last year is because it wasn't healled properly. I literally broke and rebroke it in the same timeframe tony did just falling backward trying to catch a football on grass. Mine wasn't broken in multiple places either and wasn't being x-rayed every few weeks(which hurts the healing process because the radiation is not good for healing cells, IMO)like Tony's. Once my collarbone was allowed to heal properly, I do believe that it is stronger than it was before.

My take is they leave it the heck alone and let him go about his offseason. He needs to get stronger in his upper body to help withstand these guys falling on him. It really is as simple as that.

 

[Stash]

I don't think this means that anyone should panic, just that there's more reason than ever to prepare. Both for now in terms of getting a capable backup, and for the future by drafting the next franchise quarterback.

Prepare, plan ahead, cover yourself. Hope for the best, be ready for the worst.

 

[perrykemp]

Sturm is just straight up saying that the team is lying... he's not pretending to base his feelings on medical reasons.

Which is the part that worries me a <bit>. I've never considered Sturm a sensationalist.

For him to basically indicate he thinks the team is lying -- it worries me. I don't think Sturm would offer that lightly.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I tend to disagree with this. I believe it has mended, but they are concerned that now that he has broken it twice, the odds are really good he will break it again. I don't think this is as much about mending as it is about trying to find a way to prevent it from breaking again. Because of Tony's age, they won't get several chances as this. They have to pick the winning solution right now and so far, it is likely that none of the potential solutions stands above the others which would explain the delay in having any procedure done.

Whenever Tony hits the turf with a defender on top of him, i hold my breath waiting for him to at least get up to one knee. That's just me...but i feel he's susceptible to a serious upper body injury every time he hits the turf now. Could be the "Negative Nelly" in me....