Orange to the Bay
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Firstly, the ACL has nothing to do with stabilizing lateral movement of the knee (as mentioned in a couple previous posts). It prevents anterior displacement of the tibia relative to the femur. Sidenote: it is the weakest knee ligament (by far), 9x weaker than the LCL, which is the next weakest of the 4 knee ligaments. The PCL (the strongest of them all, and usually never torn unless the tibia hits the dashboard in a very high-speed motor vehicle collision) prevents posterior displacement of the tibia with respect to the femur, but without an ACL, the PCL is pretty serviceable at preventing movement of the tibia in the anterior-posterior direction relative to the femur. Based on the article where he had extensive discussions with Orthos about surgery, he must have torn it completely, as a partial tear would not require surgery, so those discussions would never have been had for a partial tear. In this case, forgoing surgery is actually not unreasonable, but that said, I've never (ever) heard of non-surgical treatment in an athlete wanting to continue in athletics. So, the most likely scenario is:
-He actually tore it completely, forwent surgery, and CBJ's comments about him "not having an ACL" are actually true. Given the above (that it is the weakest ligament by far), the ACL is actually is not necessary. However, it is necessary for an elite athlete. Again, I frankly have never seen or heard of anyone not having it repaired if they want to continue in athletics. However, it is pretty plausible that it is pretty clear to him that this is his last year of football regardless, as he will not go to the NFL. Thus, he has decided to leave it alone, and try to play the best he can with a knee brace sans ACL. Seeing as he is not a RB making jump-stops and all, this isn't out of the question.
Were he seriously wanting to pursue further competitive football after this year, he would have to undergo repair to truly be able to do what he really needed to do to compete at a high level. However, maybe he feels like if he can help the team sans ACL, then that is his best option for this year, and cross the surgery/future football bridge when/if that comes. For that, I applaud his character.
-He actually tore it completely, forwent surgery, and CBJ's comments about him "not having an ACL" are actually true. Given the above (that it is the weakest ligament by far), the ACL is actually is not necessary. However, it is necessary for an elite athlete. Again, I frankly have never seen or heard of anyone not having it repaired if they want to continue in athletics. However, it is pretty plausible that it is pretty clear to him that this is his last year of football regardless, as he will not go to the NFL. Thus, he has decided to leave it alone, and try to play the best he can with a knee brace sans ACL. Seeing as he is not a RB making jump-stops and all, this isn't out of the question.
Were he seriously wanting to pursue further competitive football after this year, he would have to undergo repair to truly be able to do what he really needed to do to compete at a high level. However, maybe he feels like if he can help the team sans ACL, then that is his best option for this year, and cross the surgery/future football bridge when/if that comes. For that, I applaud his character.
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