(05-01-2022, 02:02 PM)Protozoa Wrote:

(05-01-2022, 01:20 PM)Jag88 Wrote: So, if it's that bad, he should not have been playing college football in the first place. I guess tlaw didnt know about it

Honestly every player takes a risk when they walk on the field, it's his life and if he's willing to take the risk to do what he loves that's his choice.

The Doctor that did his surgery believes he can play and it's safer for him now then it was before his surgery.

So a couple things. Yes it is a risk he can take, but coaches and doctors, especially in sports, are supposed to keep players health and best interests in mind. That is part of the issue with concussions where many players feel they can be back out there, but are held out.

The risk from KFS, is not so much from the fused bones itself. It is how the ligaments and the biomechanics develop around the spine as a person grows into an adult. Essentially the normal portions of the spine become hypermobile due altered stress patterns, and those are the ones that often dislodge more in person without KFS. So with a impactful injury, they push into the spine or nerves coming from the spine and injure them. 

From the limited released info about the surgery, they just removed a slipped disc and added stabilization/fusion hardware. That may have helped with the acute issues he had at the time, but there is no literature to say that would reduce or minimize his elevated risk going forward.

At best, his medical situation would be a "guinea pig" to see if this type of treatment and physical therapy can help patients with this in the future. However, there is no concrete medical evidence for that basis. It is based on the how the the experts believe the biomechanics should work. Anyone in medicine would tell you that we have a very limited understanding of spinal biomechanics. That is why any randomized study about surgery/treatments for back pain comes back as inconclusive, or repeated studies provide mixed results.

Even the surgeon who did the surgery noted that he still may not be able to play after the surgery, just that it would give him the best chance going forward. 

He want to Evel Knievel this situation. But the NFL wants no part of that, given that it look really bad for the league if he gets hurt in the current climate already worried about spinal injury risk for players without a pre-existing condition.

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