Who will be surprise veteran player who gets cut?

bobtheflob said:
I was reading somewhere that the only player in professional sports to come back after that kind of surgery is Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman also played his entire career without an ACL in one of his knees.

His doctors think he tore it as a junior but never got correct medical care on it - because it happened young, he was able to adapt to it.

He's not a good comparison as Stevie Y may be superhuman.
 
From Micky:
IRVING, Texas - Justin Beriault is trying to do something no one in the NFL is known to have done:
Recover from osteotomy surgery to resume playing.
Osteo-what?
Osteotomy.
Wait a minute. Thought Beriault, last year's sixth-round draft choice of the Cowboys, had microfracture knee surgery right after the final roster cuts. You know, the delicate procedure where surgeons drill holes into the bone under the kneecap in hopes of regenerating the growth of missing cartilage?
Well, he did on Sept. 13 after fighting through training camp and preseason games with a constantly swelling knee because of damaged medial and lateral meniscus - a form of cartilage. Same procedure Al Johnson went through. Same as Kevin Hardy. Success rate with this type of surgery is on the rise, since a decade or so ago a microfracture procedure was considered radical and chancy.
But here is what we didn't know: At the same time, Beriault had an osteotomy (Ah-stee-Ott-oh-me) procedure performed on the same right knee, the one he initially injured in high school when damaged cartilage was removed. Now we're talking somewhat of a chancy surgery, but without it, then we're talking career-ending for sure.
"I didn't know what it was," Beriault says of the problems he began having the first week of training camp last summer. "All it was, was bone on bone."
He meant because of the missing cartilage in his right knee, basically there was no cushion between the tibia and kneecap, the irritation causing the knee to swell - a condition known as osteoarthritis. Rest would help. But resumption of activity would put him back in the same swollen boat.
So here is what was done besides the microfracture to basically realign the knee, which tends to list to the side of the missing cartilage: Surgeons remove a wedge-shaped portion of the shine bone to help compensate for the deformity in the knee joint.
Removing the portion of bone under the knee changes the alignment of the shine and knee, and more evenly distributes the body weight on the knee - transferring the bulk of the stress to the less worn area. Then the surgeon brings together the remaining bones and secures them with pins or staples to properly realign the joint. As far as the bone is concerned, might as well be a fracture which must heal afterward.
This surgery has been known to delay total knee replacement or has been performed to treat someone severely bowlegged.
"Not many players have had this surgery," Beriault said. "They tell me no one has returned to play."
Let's bring this closer to home. Unbeknownst to us, Kalen Thornton, who had the same microfracture surgery performed on his left knee the same day as Beriault's surgery, also had the osteotomy procedure done, too.
The Cowboys' second-year outside linebacker who also spent all of last year on injured reserve along with Beriault wasn't quite as fortunate. His knee did not respond as well as Beriault's evidently has, and his chances of playing football again were slim to none, same as if he didn't have the surgery.
So that is why Thornton was released on May 31. Had nothing to do with his talent or a suddenly crowded linebacker field. His knee basically was kaput.
Same thing happened to former Kansas City linebacker Mike Maslowski, who attempted to return from an osteotomy procedure in September of 2004. He missed the final six games of the 2003 season, all of 2004 and time ran out on him in 2005, when he was cut by the Chiefs.
The only known professional athlete to return from an osteotomy to play is Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, back four years ago. Yzerman
would return for the 2003 season and played until announcing his retirement this week. Beriault, well, so far so good. He fully participated in the three-day mini-camp the first of June, and then the four-day OTA session the following week. At this point, all systems are go.
"I feel better now than I did before I came in (for training camp last year)," said Beriault, who spent 10 weeks on crutches after the dual procedures. "I haven't missed a workout since we began on March 20."
At this point, the kid from Ball State is bucking the odds. But remember, he's yet to tackle someone or have his right leg all tangled up in a pileup. He's yet to play football with the abandon that caught the eye of Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells last summer despite his knee problems, that same abandon he'll need to exhibit, especially on special teams, if he is to have a chance at making the club's 53-man roster this year.
The odds of that have stretched longer, too, since we last saw him play. The safety position has grown crowded. Of course, there is Pro Bowler Roy Williams starting at strong safety, where Beriault will be lining up at once camp begins in three weeks. There is Keith Davis, who started 15 games at free safety last year. There is Willie Pile, who was the nickel safety last year.
Then, the Cowboys have added fifth-round draft choice Pat Watkins, a free safety. They have signed veteran defensive back Marcus Coleman, a former corner who has spent the past two years playing safety. They have added first-year free agent Abram Elam, along with signing rookie free agent Darrell Brooks.
Unfortunately for Beriault, he doesn't have a leg up on many, if any of these guys.
"I only got to play three weeks in the NFL, so I've got to try to pick up the speed again," Beriault said, referring to his time spent actually playing with the Cowboys last year in training camp. "This is my rookie year all over again. Same thing."
Then again, he does have a couple of advantages. At this point, his knee is better. Remember, after that first week of camp last summer, Beriault
Also, he's heavier and stronger, having spent so much time in the weight room not only rehabbing the knee, but working his upper body. In fact, during that mini-camp, basically was reduced to practicing once a day or every other day or even missing a couple of days so he would be well enough to play in a preseason game. Once he did, the cycle would start all over again. Beriault was a robust 215 pounds. Don't laugh. Remember last year at that time he had been sick for a couple of weeks before the mini-camp began, and had dropped to like 198. Maybe. That would be 6-3, 198. The Cowboys wanted him at 208 for camp, and it was a struggle.
"For the first time in my life I've had to lose weight," said Beriault, laughing at the irony of now having to get down to 210.
But Beriault also knows that he was only on the edge of making the squad last year as a rookie - that he would have made it eight-for-eight when it came to draft choices making the team. There were legitimate concerns over Beriault being able to handle the physical rigors of playing in the NFL.
The knee injury and subsequent surgeries bought his body some time.
"That was almost a blessing to me," Beriault now admits. "I wasn't as strong as I needed to be and I have a better idea of what to expect now."
Plus he has a sound right knee. Or, well, let's put it this way, much sounder than the one he reported to training camp with last summer that began acting up before the Cowboys even got to that second Saturday scrimmage in Oxnard, Calif.
So he gets a second chance now, and for the kid from Indianapolis, it's almost a pride thing to him. "A challenge," he says. For he readily points out last year's season opener, Sept. 11 in San Diego, was the "first game I've ever missed in my entire life."
Let that sink in.
Let this also sink in now that you know the extent of Beriault's knee injury and surgeries (that's plural, remember): If Beriault's knee should prevent him from having a legitimate shot at making the Dallas Cowboys, he insists, looking you straight in the eye to emphasize his no nonsense, "I'll never use (an injury) as an excuse. I would not have even used that last year."
Even if he needed that rare, bone-cutting osteo-whatever.
 
abersonc said:
Yzerman also played his entire career without an ACL in one of his knees.

His doctors think he tore it as a junior but never got correct medical care on it - because it happened young, he was able to adapt to it.

He's not a good comparison as Stevie Y may be superhuman.

And your knees take far less of a pounding in hockey than they ever will in football.
 
junk said:
And your knees take far less of a pounding in hockey than they ever will in football.

I don't know about far less, you cut alot in hockey, esp. forwards/wings whatever, it's a pretty tough sport
 
StarAmongStars said:
Drew Henson :confused:

Ahh...I read the whole thread and was amazed that no one had said this.:)

Not going to happen...he's going to beat out Romo...Come on Henson!:p:
 
For years the ACL injury has thought to have been the atomic bomb of knee injurys, but I'm beginning to be far more worried with even minor cartiledge tears. Especially if they are frequent and the player seems to have lingering effects.
 
summerisfunner said:
I don't know about far less, you cut alot in hockey, esp. forwards/wings whatever, it's a pretty tough sport

Far less. Running constantly puts pressure on your knees with the up and down motion. You don't have any of that in hockey.

In addition, a cut on a football field requires you to plant your foot (with cleats) in the turf where you might subsequently get hit. Your leg usually isn't locked like that in hockey and ice is pretty slippery. You have a tendency to just go down as opposed to being hit with your leg caught in the turf like football.

The cuts made by a forward in hockey are a lot different than the plant and cut motion made by a running football player.

Hockey is a tough sport, but I think it's pretty easy on your knees.
 

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