<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>CINCINNATI (AP) -- Carson Palmer's knee injury was "devastating and potentially career-ending," involving numerous ligament tears, a shredded ligament, damaged cartilage and a dislocated kneecap, his surgeon said Thursday.The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback tore ligaments in his left knee when he was hit by Pittsburgh's Kimo von Oelhoffen on his first pass during the Steelers' 31-17 playoff victory Sunday.ADVERTISEMENTThe team announced that he had torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments. The damage was much more extensive and severe, but Dr. Lonnie Paulos said surgery went well and Palmer could be back for the start of the season.Palmer had surgery Tuesday in Houston. Doctors used grafts from other parts of his body and donated tissue to fix the damage during an operation that lasted more than two hours. Palmer headed back to California on Thursday to do his rehabilitation."It's not just like it was a torn ACL," Paulos said Thursday, in a phone interview from Houston. "It's a magnitude more difficult to recover from and repair. It can and has ended careers, without a doubt."However, I feel very comfortable with Carson as an athlete and the heart that he's got. In the end, that's the bottom line. I can see the look in his eye already. He's ready to get going."Paulos, an orthopedic surgeon who has worked with the U.S. Ski Team since 1983, replaced the anterior cruciate ligament, which runs through the middle of the knee and provides stability. He said the medial collateral ligament, which runs along the side of the knee, was damaged "real bad.""On a scale of 1 to 3, it was a 4," he said. "It was off the chart. It was pretty badly damaged -- shredded is the better term."The kneecap dislocated when Palmer was hit, damaging tissue around it. There also was some cartilage damage, he said.Paulos was able to repair the knee without removing pieces of cartilage or soft tissue, a good sign."The things that were torn could be repaired," he said. "They were not torn beyond repair. So he's got all his parts in there, which is good. We're optimistic, actually."If rehabilitation goes well, Palmer could be running in a couple of months and might be able to play in the first regular season game, Paulos said. The 2006 schedule hasn't been set.Palmer has worn a protective brace on the left knee since he sprained it near the end of the 2004 season. The knee bowed inward on von Oelhoffen's hit even though Palmer was wearing the brace,"The brace didn't function well in this environment and should have done better than it did, frankly," Paulos said.The plan is for Palmer to wear more substantial braces on both knees when he returns."No brace is perfect," Paulos said. "No brace can prevent every injury, but they do help."Paulos saw the replay of the injury and wasn't surprised at the extent of the damage it caused. Palmer has absolved von Oelhoffen, saying he didn't think the lineman was trying to hurt him. The lineman said he was trying to sack Palmer, not injure him. He wasn't penalized for the hit.Palmer made the Pro Bowl in only his second season as a starter, throwing an NFL-leading 32 touchdown passes. The club extended his contract through the 2014 season.Jon Kitna, who has been Palmer's backup and mentor the last two years, can become a free agent. Palmer's injury will force the Bengals to make sure they have another reliable quarterback on board.</div>
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-b...ov=ap&type=lgnsWow, that is HUGE!!!I think Kitna is gonna definately be resigned now and unless its actually career threatening they might have to draft a new QB in the first round of the NFL Draft...someone like Omar Jacobs.
I still can't stop thinking about this. He's so young, and has already shown he's a top QB in the NFL. Sad . . .
UPDATE:<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Doc optimistic Palmer can start seasonBy GEOFF HOBSONJanuary 12, 2006Posted: 11:15 p.m.Although his patient suffered what he called ?severe ligament damage,? Carson Palmer?s surgeon is optimistic that the Bengals quarterback can return in time for the start of the regular season.Dr. Lonnie Paulos also said Thursday that much hinges on the next few months of rehab and how it heals ?things that are really out of my control and Carson?s control. We need to give it a few months. But he?s got an excellent chance to be back playing as well as he did before.?Paulos says the normal timeframe for recovery for reconstructive knee surgery is nine to 12 months, but he thinks Palmer will be back ?long before that,? even though he called it an atypical tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.?The kneecap slipped off to the side and caused some damage,? Paulos said. ?It?s not the usual ACL tear, but we don?t believe this is going to be a career-ending injury. Really, it comes down to rehab and determination, and knowing Carson, he?s going to do what he has to do.?Palmer left for home Thursday to begin rehab in California after Paulos operated Tuesday at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.Paulos, 59, who is establishing the Baylor University Sports Medicine Clinic in Waco, Tex., surfaced as the surgeon once Palmer and his people told the Bengals they preferred an independent doctor rather than a team doctor to do the operation. The landscape in pro sports has changed since Paulos was literally on the cutting edge of sports medicine in Cincinnati a generation ago.?Now it?s a more involved process with the family, the agents, the team,? Paulos said. ?I know the sports medicine community very well in Cincinnati and he?ll be well taken care of by the team with the Bengals. He?s in excellent hands.?The Bengals know Paulos well enough that they referred him to Palmer and Palmer decided to go with the recommendation. In 1978, Paulos and Dr. Frank Noyes formed Cincinnati?s first sports medicine clinic at One Lytle Place, where Paulos worked on some Bengals and Reds. It is Noyes, Paulos says, that did much of the definitive research on the ACL.?Frank showed that it was the athlete?s ligament,? Paulos said. ?It?s the one that?s used for running and jumping and pivoting. He demonstrated that without it, you can?t do it. Before Frank did that work, people didn?t think the ACL was very important.?During the three?hour procedure to repair the ACL as well as the medial collateral ligament, Paulos grafted Palmer?s own tissue as well as tissue from organ donors to reconstitute and augment the damaged anatomy in the region between the tibia and femur.Palmer wore a brace on his knee since he sprained his MCL in the same knee back in December of 2004, and Paulos said he and the team could end up opting to wear a brace that provides more protection.Like everyone else, Paulos, who is a partner in the group that administers to the Texans and University of Houston, came away impressed with Palmer.?He?s bright, he?s committed, you can see it in his eyes,? he said.Yes, Paulos did look at the play before surgery, and watched Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen?s hit on Palmer?s knee a few times.?Sometimes the speed of the play, the angle, can give you a better idea of what you?re going to find,? Paulos said. ?But no matter how much you see it, you really don?t know until he?s asleep on the table and you go into the knee with the microscope.?And here?s a second opinion from the good doctor:?A clean hit,? Paulos said. ?It was an accident. No athlete would ever do something to another athlete like that on purpose.?Late Thursday night after conducting a series of media interviews, Paulos, through the Bengals public relations department, released the following clarification:?I believe and regret that media reports, based on interviews with me, have misinterpreted my view of Carson Palmer?s knee injury. Though the injury was serious, the essential facts remain his ACL and MCL have been repaired. I would consider this a typical MCL-ACL football injury. My comments attributed to me that the knee injury was ?devastating and potentially career ending? were meant to describe such injuries in general, not Carson?s particular case.?I was accurately quoted by the Associated Press that my bottom line is optimism regarding Carson?s prognosis. With a successful rehabilitation program, he has an excellent chance of being medically cleared for play at the beginning of the 2006 NFL regular season.?</div>
I have no source but I heard from my friend at school today that when they announced this, they meant that this type of injury is potentially career ending, they didn't mean that he is OUT FOR CAREER. But that's just what I heard.
Praise The Lord I just pray the Doc. is right, and there is a good chance. You just hate hearing about these kind of things, I wish him the best of luck!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JHair @ Jan 13 2006, 08:54 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'>I have no source but I heard from my friend at school today that when they announced this, they meant that this type of injury is potentially career ending, they didn't mean that he is OUT FOR CAREER. But that's just what I heard.</div> Thats basically what the article i just posted said...
