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Thurman played entire career with partially torn ACL.


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Never heard or seen this until reading this article. 

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2018/07/buffalo_bills_hof_rb_thurman_thomas_played_entire_career_with_partially_torn_acl.html

 

Just truly insane how good he was. 

 

"Some news that Thomas shared on social media recently should have fans even more impressed with his career. It turns out that Thomas played his entire career on a partially torn ACL.

 

When a fan asked how long Thomas played with the torn ACL, Thomas responded by saying he played the rest of his career with the injury. He'd later add that his ACL was about 85 percent torn."

 

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3 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Pretty amazing.  I can certainly believe the entire career with a partially torn ACL but I cant believe it was 85% torn that entire time.  He always was more of a straight ahead runner.

His career would be top10 all time to GODLIKE.

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Having lived with a partially torn ACL for several years (before completely tearing it away) I would just comment that so long as what remains is structurally holding things in place, it doesn't really affect you. Also, some people can live normal, active lives (like downhill skiing active) with no ACL anymore, just because of how they are built. 

So I don't really know what to make of the 85% torn claim as it relates to what his performance would have otherwise been if not torn at all. It strikes me that it might not have been any different. 

Edited by Bob Chandler's Hands
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30 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Pretty amazing.  I can certainly believe the entire career with a partially torn ACL but I cant believe it was 85% torn that entire time.  He always was more of a straight ahead runner.

 

Ummm... I'm not sure I would ever characterize him that way. 

 

He wasn't Earl Campbell or OJ Simpson and straight-ahead was absolutely not the way he got the majority of those tough extra yards.

 

Not all the way on the other end of the spectrum like a Barry Sanders, but you get the point.

 

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Kinda hard to believe. Thurman may not have been a juke you out your shoes RB but to accept that he played his entire HOF career taking the pounding RBs of that era had to absorb feels like a bit of a stretch.

 

I love the guy but c'mon man.

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1 minute ago, Dr.Sack said:

The amazing thing is he kept Barry Sanders on the bench in ‘87.

What a backfield that was. 85% torn ACL would've benched him for a whole season in modern times. That whole team was a bunch of tough SOB's! Shame they couldn't get at least one of those SB rings

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6 minutes ago, Tcali said:

I love Thurman..he had many unique qualities and was a great RB. But not top 10.Come on man.

You can make the argument. Thurman along with Roger Craig were kinda the first dual threat RBs before it became commonplace in the NFL. Top 10, maybe not. But, Top 10 dual threat RBs of all time? Definitely! 

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57 minutes ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

Having lived with a partially torn ACL for several years (before completely tearing it away) I would just comment that so long as what remains is structurally holding things in place, it doesn't really affect you. Also, some people can live normal, active lives (like downhill skiing active) with no ACL anymore, just because of how they are built. 

So I don't really know what to make of the 85% torn claim as it relates to what his performance would have otherwise been if not torn at all. It strikes me that it might not have been any different. 

This is more or less what I was thinking.

 

I.E., the percentage is not relevant.  What is relevant is your knee either working correctly, or not.  Whatever he had going on in there was obviously working.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, billsbackto81 said:

You can make the argument. Thurman along with Roger Craig were kinda the first dual threat RBs before it became commonplace in the NFL. Top 10, maybe not. But, Top 10 dual threat RBs of all time? Definitely! 

Marcus Allen also became that later in his career too.

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It's hard to evaluate TT accurately because he played on such great offensive teams.  They were great in part because of him, but they had everything particularly a great O line.  I saw a feature online recently showing all of his TDs in a particular year.  In most of them he had to be elusive but not insanely so -- he'd put a little head bob or a half step sideways or delay a beat, and he'd get the opening he needed.  This is not a criticism in fact it's high praise for a guy who had such a great feel for the game.  But, without that great O line and the passing game at the same time, it's easy to see how a defense could have taken him out of the game.  OJ, on the other hand, excelled even though everyone knew the Bills were going to run -- of course he had a great O line too.  I've always thought OJ was the best Bill of all time, and was the best runner of a long list of great RBs.  With Cookie #2, TT #3, Shady #4, and a bunch of other guys who were all really good making up the rest of the top 10.

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Look up in the sky, its a bird, its a plane      ?      NO ITS THE THURMONATOR !!!!!    

 

Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive , Able to leap defenders with a single bound & juke them out of their shorts with a torn ACL !! 

 

WOW ! Now that just adds to his legacy !! 

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