vegas55 Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Sam Cowart was cut by Texans today - a strong reminder of how devestating an achilles injury is. Before he hurt his achilles, he was an awesome (underrated) talent. After the injury he was never close to being the same. A sobering thought for those who think Spikes will rejuvenate this defense. Hope for the best for Spikes, but a comeback to what he was was would be the exception to the rule when it comes to that type of injury. Cowart could have been a hall of famer, he had that kind of ability.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I thought the warning was going to be 10 people on this board will want us to sign him because they've heard of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 meh what slowed cowart was his knee injuries. No doubt achillies injuries are tough to get back but I believe Spikes will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasker Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 My 74 year old uncle had the same Achilles surgery, and he was out playing Tennis again within a year. Tough to get back, and impressive to do so, but basing Spikes on Cowart is like basing Spikes on my uncle. You never know until you see it on the field over time, but I think TKO will be just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 My 74 year old uncle had the same Achilles surgery, and he was out playing Tennis again within a year. Tough to get back, and impressive to do so, but basing Spikes on Cowart is like basing Spikes on my uncle. You never know until you see it on the field over time, but I think TKO will be just fine. 759172[/snapback] In addition, modern medicine is always improving -- 5 years is a long time to get better procedures. Maybe I'm just being optimisic because I have a Spikes jersey CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary owen Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Sam Cowart was cut by Texans today - a strong reminder of how devestating an achilles injury is. Before he hurt his achilles, he was an awesome (underrated) talent. After the injury he was never close to being the same. A sobering thought for those who think Spikes will rejuvenate this defense. Hope for the best for Spikes, but a comeback to what he was was would be the exception to the rule when it comes to that type of injury. Cowart could have been a hall of famer, he had that kind of ability.. 759155[/snapback] that is a very good point. knee surgery and rehab has definitely come a long ways in the last 10+ years (I know, I've had ACL surgery back in 1990, then again in 2004). But Achilles injuries are not as common for athletes and they have not perfected surgeries and rehab for that as far as I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamrock Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 that is a very good point. knee surgery and rehab has definitely come a long ways in the last 10+ years (I know, I've had ACL surgery back in 1990, then again in 2004). But Achilles injuries are not as common for athletes and they have not perfected surgeries and rehab for that as far as I know. 759310[/snapback] I wrote an analysis on the injury from a podiatric point ages ago. A lot has to do with the nature of the injury: the tissue features that were damamged- tendon-muscle, the severity of the damage- partial to complete tear, the site of the damage- high to low, tissue damage required for surgery to be performed- was there tissue damage that had to be removed and then the recovery has to be considered- new dressing techniques, physiotherapy loading etc. Phew. But even Achilles surgery has progressed and let's say it was the same surgeon that saw Sam way back then, then at least the surgeon has done quite a few more courses and procedures- building up the experience before tackling Takeo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Sam Cowart was cut by Texans today - a strong reminder of how devestating an achilles injury is. Before he hurt his achilles, he was an awesome (underrated) talent. After the injury he was never close to being the same. A sobering thought for those who think Spikes will rejuvenate this defense. Hope for the best for Spikes, but a comeback to what he was was would be the exception to the rule when it comes to that type of injury. Cowart could have been a hall of famer, he had that kind of ability.. 759155[/snapback] So he stayed in the league for another 5-6 years with 2 teams? and thats bad news? I know you hope for the best from Spikes. After being there for the home game against Cleveland I am confident, phsyched, and pumped about THE MANS return to the field. If you didn't see it, you don't get it. DUDE is going to play ball. Cowart never really did after his return which is very sad because I love Sam. But his body is his body. TKO's is his and he really is a freak! A super freak to be exact! He's really kind of kinky! He's alright! He's alright! Heh heh heh heh heh TKO Rocks Edit: This really sounds like man love for TKO doesn't it? Well. he's alright! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I wrote an analysis on the injury from a podiatric point ages ago. A lot has to do with the nature of the injury: the tissue features that were damamged- tendon-muscle, the severity of the damage- partial to complete tear, the site of the damage- high to low, tissue damage required for surgery to be performed- was there tissue damage that had to be removed and then the recovery has to be considered- new dressing techniques, physiotherapy loading etc. Phew. But even Achilles surgery has progressed and let's say it was the same surgeon that saw Sam way back then, then at least the surgeon has done quite a few more courses and procedures- building up the experience before tackling Takeo! 759347[/snapback] Evcellent perspective and information. Folks who draw conclusions based upon how other players have responded to similar sounding injuries are usually simply wrong in drawing conclusions rather than just taking this an indication of what is possible. There were various predictions made in posts as camp began which predicted a year and half until TKO played at anything like his past levels if that ever happened. This still may prove to be true, but predictions such as the one which state that TKO would not even play until game 3 have already been proven wrong. The simple fact is that all we really knew was that TKO had danage which was likely to be a tear of the achilles tendon when he went down and seemed to know immediately this was a big deal injury. He was placed on IR relatively quickly and his season was over. However, at that point and even up until game 3 that was really all we knew. TKO was clearly gonna go under the knife and as such IR and a season ending decision was warranted in any case. However, any assumption then and now that TKO was destined to be out a particular amount of time or that he would recover to only a specific level were simply ill-founded and even if correct it would mostly be coincidental. Not all achilles, ACL, compound or other injuries are a like. For the reasons you point out, where the tear occurs in the muscle, how severed the tear is and other factors like how clean the tear is make a big difference. Even the most knowledable Bills and the docs really had little clear idea what they were facing until the surgery began and they got a look at the injury. When one adds to that the issue of medical science advancing quickly in terms of repair and physical therapy and other rehab techniques advancing and the simple fact that different people simply heal faster, slower or differently, the predictions beyond stating a general range were little more than guesses and shots in the dark. At this point IKO's injury while clearly a severe one that mandated surgery does not look like one of the more severe ones that cost folks such as Cowart greater periods of time before they could take a hit or play the game and certainly less severe than that of achilles injuries which cost players their careers. He will not be the player he was (but what players past their peak years are) and the Bills have moved him from Will to Sam OLB with the injury limitations in mind. I think there is little good reason to not hope that YKO will resume his former levels of productivity as an OLB.. This result should not reasonably be expected or assumed, but his quicker than expected play well within a year of his injury does mean that hoping this is the case is not a silly thing to hope for. The consensus was among us outside observers and even among docs who examined him was thar WM would be lucky to play the game ever again and no one expected him to be the fastest Bill ever to rush for 2000 yards. He clearly is the exception rather than the rule but shows how bad the sideline doctor predicitions are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizell Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 i'm still pissed at frank middleton for doing that cheapshot that ended his year in 2000. at least we didn't cave in to his ridiculous contract demands and let the jets have him afterwards. :shrug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunTheBall Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Achilles injuries occur in the tendon, very rarely is it a muscle tear. The surgery for this has not changed much in 20 years, you take the two ends of the tendon and sew them back together. It's not rocket science. What has changed is the rehab - this is what is getting people back on their feet much faster. The dogma with tendon and joint injuries used to be to keep them immobile for a long time. That was found to be wrong, and people are doing range of motion exercises immediately after surgery combined with intense physical therapy and are bouncing back much quicker. That being said, I think an achilles injury is more difficult to recover from than an ACL. The ACL is a passive ligament, it helps keep the knee joint aligned properly. The achilles tendon is an active, weight bearing tendon that is under constant stress from the calf. For this reason, I think it's more likely to result in noticeable decreases in performance in elite athletes. The average joe will likely not notice a difference. For TKO, it certainly looks like he's doing well, and I hope it continues. RTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloinAtlanta Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Warning: ridiculous argument/comparison. Vegas - Look up, that big bird in the sky is called an A_I-R-P-L-A-N-E....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas55 Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 Warning: ridiculous argument/comparison. Vegas - Look up, that big bird in the sky is called an A_I-R-P-L-A-N-E....... 759487[/snapback] I think my point actually was that two many people ASSUME that Spikes will return at 100% - and their assumptions are based strictly on wishful thinking. Spikes may well return at 100%, but many players with the same type of injury have not. So its not a given, like many people believe, especially when they base their belief on the 12+ plays he had in preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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