I got up early (on the West Coast) to see the Tennessee Volunteers take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina Saturday morning. My desire was triggered by Tennessee, which I believe to be a team on the verge. And I’m hopeful Derek Dooley will have the opportunity to stick around a while. Digressing.
What began as a game that promised to be a legitimate gridiron battle, quickly turned into a somber and emotional viewing experience. I’m no hater. I show partiality for 60 minutes of game time, but brass tacks, I have nothing but a world of respect for all of these young men who play college football.
One individual who caught my attention three years ago: Marcus Lattimore. An undeniably elite football talent, he had everything you hoped to see on the football field from a running back, and had his head on straight off the field.
Seeing him lose the bulk of his 2011 season to a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee was nothing compared to the shocking scene on Saturday when his right knee was ravaged by a combination of a hard hit and simple physics. If you haven’t seen the video, yes, it’s gruesome. Bodies aren’t made to bend in such a fashion. You’ve been forewarned.
There have been numerous reports about the injury, beginning with South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and repeated by journalistic outlets, referring to the injury as a “dislocated knee.” What is a dislocated knee, you ask? Exactly. Can we get any more vague or ambiguous?
Obviously the lower leg is in the wrong position, so it’s “dislocated.” That doesn’t mean anything. If a leg is broken, technically you could say it’s dislocated, right? And so you ask yourself, “Why won’t they just state the extent of the damage?”
The doctor who examined the MRI said Lattimore suffered ligament damage, but there was no fracture, as was falsely reported by some beat-em-to-the-press, journalistic hack. Fact is, it is a dislocation. Frankly, a break would have been a welcome injury — a 6 to 8 week healing process instead of what will likely be 12 to 14 months of rehabilitation. This was a soft tissue injury. Far more severe.
No, I’m not the Manolith medical expert, but I have seen a few MRIs, including my own. And I’m no stranger to knee injuries. To answer the question: Why won’t they just admit the extent of the damage? Because they want to offer Lattimore every opportunity to rehabilitate with the potential of making a full recovery. A recovery without the rabid dogs known as NFL scouts and general managers being privy to the extent of the damage.
Knowledge of an injury gives rise to questions: Can he play again? Will he play again? Listen, people — the practice of sports medicine on the various joints of the body…? They can pretty much fix anything these days.
The biggest concern may very well be the state of the cartilage pad that separates the medial and lateral condyles on both the femur and tibia. This cartilage pad is most commonly referred to as the meniscus.
Four ligaments attach the leg bones: the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) on the outside, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) on the inside, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which runs through the center of the knee joint and gives the knee its twisting and turning stability, and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Slap a gliding piece of bone on the front for some protection and added stability, attach it to a couple of tendons for proper flexion, and you’ve got the knee.
Back to Mr. Lattimore.
When considering his ligaments: They’ll be repaired and replaced. And the bone and ligaments will strengthen through rehabilitation. If Marcus Lattimore wants to play more football, he’ll play more football.
Need further proof? Ten years ago, with sports medicine just pressing toward this contemporary era, they said Willis McGahee would never play again. Perennial 1,000-yard seasons in the NFL? Enough said.
What an awesome talent and fine young man. Praying for a speedy and full recovery. We can’t wait to see you back on the field and there is no doubt that you will return!
Thirteen years ago I suffered the same type injury to the same leg. Although it wasn’t a sports injury my leg bent in the same manner as this athlete’s. The orthopedic surgeon called it a severe dislocation. He may or may not be able to come back from this one. It isn’t the cartiladge or tendons that he will need to worry about as much as the possible nerve damage. Mine was bent to the point where it severed the peraniel nerve that goes from the outside of the knee down to the foot. I now have what they call “drop foot” due the nerve damage. I have had to wear an orthodic brace since the accident because of the nerve damage. I hope and prey for this young man that his accident is repairable.
The access these athletes have to the most incredible, groundbreaking surgeons is the difference in what you or I might have to accept as a prognosis. Considering the Chad Jones story (former LSU standout Safety and Baseball Pitcher), and the fact that they were able to reconstruct nerve damage, as well as save his foot after a grisly car accident is really a testament to the last 10 years of reconstructive surgery.
You are correct about the nerve damage. But my understanding is the head physician has stated that there is only significant ligament damage. The reason I brought up the meniscus, as any football player or former football player will tell you, without the pads in your knees, it’s a near impossibility to make the moves necessary to be a “skills” player. The prognosis seems to be quite positive. Much like that of Willis McGahee after his injury in 2002.
Thanks for your comment! Great insight.
As a medical student, this is exactly the type of “journalistic hack” reporting that the author complains about. It is completely full of medical inaccuracies. Breaks and dislocations are not the same thing–not even if you use the word “technically” to make yourself sound knowledgable. A break is bone-related; a dislocation is joint-related. Most tibial breaks do not result in knee dislocations. In addition, the “upper condyle” and “lower condyle” that the author describes are not medical terms and do not exist. Each bone has medial and lateral condyles, and none are called upper and lower. Please, leave the medical speculations to the medical experts. Without knowing the appropriate medical information about the anatomy of the knee, this type of reporting is misleading and inaccurate.
For starters. Not a journalist. This is a blog. It’s as editorial as it gets. Secondly, the journalistic hacking I was talking about was an individual who made up an injury altogether.
Thanks for clearing that up, however, and being so polite and devoid of arrogance and ego while doing so. My intent was to help people understand that Marcus Lattimore’s leg wasn’t “broken” and the damage occurred at the joint. I think you may have missed the entire point of the post–that everyone around Lattimore is being vague about the extent of the injury to protect his potential future in football.
And how is it misleading and inaccurate? You state that it is FULL of medical inaccuracies and point out the example of a joke about breaks vs. dislocations, and the condyle issue, which I retooled for better reading. Thanks. Did I call a “rotator cuff” a “toyota truck”… make up parts of the knee that don’t exist? I explained this to the manolith readers just as my orthopedist explained it to me. Simply. And could it be that his rehab is longer than my speculation. Sure. Could he come out of surgery and never walk again? I suppose it’s all within the realm of possibility, isn’t it?
As stated in the post: I’m not a medical expert, but that doesn’t mean I’m without knowledge, or lots of experience. I have seen about 10-20 torn ACLs in my athletic career, MCLs, LCLs, “Dislocated patellas” (that would be knee cap for the non-medicals)…I have also experienced some of these. If you had an edema in the medial condyle of your femur, what does that mean to someone who doesn’t understand what the femur is?
I do not know a lot about football being a girl and all and while I am not a doctor, this article was so well written that I have a very good understanding of what has happened to Marcus Lattimore. I always have thought the game can be very dangerous, but evidently things are changing little by little, ie; the concussion thing….etc….
Nevertheless, I send Marcus my very best wishes and blessings and I hope that his recovery is speedy. Miracles happen and I have a feeling Marcus deserves one and will get one. We will all pray.
After 14 years in sports med, my best guess is torn ACL, PCL, LCL, maybe some nerve damage to popliteal nerve. The fracture that they may have been concerned about would have been damage to his tibial plateau due to the impact of his femur hitting his tibia…….
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I know it’s mere speculation, but if they’re now saying he could/might be on the field again within the next football season…? It did look like the MCL held, or possessed less damage, but I guess they really can’t tell everything until they’re in the knee with the orthroscope.