Is Thomas Davis Really Back?

[Gallagher]

Regardless of how it occurs....your knee isnt stronger than ever after 3 ACL tears.

Didn't he have a different, better surgeon this time around? I remember hearing something about them repairing his knee with ligaments from his other knee instead of from the same knee. Here, I found it:

James Andrews, MD, founder of Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., recently performed ACL reconstruction on Carolina Panthers' Thomas Davis, according to a Deadspin news report.

Mr. Davis failed to return to play after two previous ACL reconstructions, but Dr. Andrews performed a different type of procedure. He used the patellar tendon from Mr. Davis' left knee to rebuild the ACL on the right knee instead of using tendons from the right knee to reconstruct the ACL.

Link

So it would make sense to think that his knee wouldn't be stronger after 3 ACL tears but, I think it'll be better after this one than it was after the 2nd. I do think we should draft some insurance but, I don't think TD playing 16 games and maybe making the probowl is out of the question, especially with how driven the dude is.

ACL tears strike like lightning, unexpectedly, but I think with how good TD is when healthy and the huge chip that's going to be on his shoulders with all these haters saying he'll never play again, he could come up big for the Panthers next season.

[Zod]

I just think about the play that took him out last season. It was nothing special, rather ordinary. You see multiples of them in every game.

[Proudiddy]

Yeah, I'm hoping the different procedure this time produce different results.

Meanwhile, the Bengals just traded Keith Rivers to the Giants for a 5th rounder.

You telling me we could get the value of Keith Rivers in the 5th? The 4th even? Smh... We could've used that guy.

[cultclassiccat]

Steve Austin a man barely alive...gentlemen we can rebuild him...we can build the first bionic man.

This quote comes to mind when I think of TD.

[PantherPhann89]

I am going to go out on a limb and say he makes the Pro Bowl this year. And if that happens and all other starters stay healthy for the season...deep playoff run. Mark it down.

I hope you're right. We have yet to see Anderson, Beason & Davis on the field for the whole season.

[Wither]

I first read this as, "Is Thomas Davis really black?" My gut feeling was to answer, yes. Upon further inspection, I don't know the answer to the actual question.

That is also how I read it.

[Disinfranchised]

If this had read "released" I would have been relieved. I hope he holds up.

[pantherclaw]

How anyone could continue to wish ill upon Davis, is sickening.

While I Davis may or may not make it back, I hope and pray he will return, be the impact.player he was since we drafted him.

The Panthers do need a good backup. Whether it's from the later rounds in the draft, or free agency after the draft, I am confident that the Panthers will find one. As you should be comfident too.

[cgarsmoker]

I'm no where close to a professional player but I blew out my ACL and the opthepedic surgeon had to use a tendon from a cadevar to replace mine. My surgery was 3 years ago and my knee still doesn't feel as strong as it was before my tear. I'd love to see TD make it back but it is harder than most people think to come back from one surgery, much less three.

[Fright]

All i know is, if he's carted or helped off the field... I might just cry....

[Gallagher]

I'm no where close to a professional player but I blew out my ACL and the opthepedic surgeon had to use a tendon from a cadevar to replace mine. My surgery was 3 years ago and my knee still doesn't feel as strong as it was before my tear. I'd love to see TD make it back but it is harder than most people think to come back from one surgery, much less three.

Well, that's probably because you have a dead person's ligament inside of you.

[Disinfranchised]

How anyone could continue to wish ill upon Davis, is sickening.

.

Wow! I agree. Who did that?

[Argus Plexus]

He should've got a guy named Dr. Omalley in Wilmington to do it. He replaced the ACL of someone I know. A year later the guy hardly even knew his ligament had been replaced. Now that knee is stronger than his normal one. He used a cadaver achilles tendon as a new ligament. Worked ridiculously well.

[SIGCHI222]

And the world is made of marshmallows and dreams.......

"...the bone tunnels fill in to further secure the tendon ends of the graft in a bone-to-bone relationship. This occurs over the next six to eight weeks.

Nice to Know:

Recent technology has led to the development of specialized absorbable screws that actually dissolve within the bone over two to three years.

Advantages

The fixation is very strong

The patellar tendon replacing the ACL is as strong as the injured ACL (or even stronger)."

This quote is from a medical journal. again, "The patellar tendon replacing the ACL is as strong as the injured ACL (or even stronger)." Just sayin'