A(cl)-drian Peterson
Much ado has been made about Adrian Peterson since the day he set foot on an NFL field. His freakish combination of strength, speed, and agility places him in a special category of professional athlete. He has been doing unprecedented things since his first season in the NFL; he set the all-time record for rushing yards in a single game with 296 in only his 8th game as a pro. This year, he is accomplishing yet another unprecedented feat – he somehow looks better after undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery on December 30, 2011.
Rupture and subsequent reconstruction of the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is no joke. Do a quick YouTube search of ACL Injury and you will soon be gagging at the sight of violent, gruesome contortions of the knee typically required to rupture the ligament. The ACL is designed to prevent hyperextension, excessive rotation, and, in part, the caving in or valgus stress. When I talk to patients who have torn their ACL and are awaiting surgery, they often say that a simple turn while walking makes them feel like their lower leg is going one way and the rest of them is going the other way. Now imagine if you made your living dodging enormous, terrifying men trying to destroy you. You’d probably like to at least have you and your legs on the same page. When the ACL is reconstructed, surgeons try to recreate its original position as faithfully as possible while preserving range of motion. Physical therapists work to regain motion and strength and regain the balance, stability, and control that is required to return to normal function. In general, we tell patients to expect to get back to greater than 95% or their pre-injury selves. In addition, many times other ligaments or cartilage are damaged as well, most often the medial collateral ligament and medial meniscus (forming the “unhappy triad”). This only prolongs recovery and means more difficulty in returning to pre-injury form. Pretty annoying.
This brings us to the NFL running back, whose prior level of function is miles ahead of most people undergoing ACL reconstruction. The running, cutting, pivoting, and absorption of contact executed weekly by an NFL running back requires that knee to be in tip-top shape. However, history proves that in most cases pro running backs have a very hard time returning to form. With a tiny margin for error in maintaining elite status, even the smallest drop in athleticism results in a major drop in performance. In years past, take a look at KiJana Carter, Dominic Rhodes, Ronnie Brown, Cadillac Williams, Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, and Kevin Smith among many others littering the elephant graveyard with careers that were cut short or severely affected after ACL surgery (I’m not counting Deuce McCallister or Jamal Anderson in this group, as they injured their other knee shortly after returning to play). There are exceptions, of course, and we can look at Jamal Lewis, Willis MacGahee, Frank Gore, and Edgerrin James as the most high-profile players who enjoyed success after ACL injury. We need a larger sample of data, though, for context, and a study published in 2006 provided some great information about how NFL running backs and wide receivers return from ACL reconstruction. Without getting into meticulous detail, here’s a few salient points:
The average return time to a competitive game was 55.8 weeks, while 21% of players studied did not ever return to an NFL game.
In the three years following surgery, players played 4.1 less games per season than the three years prior to surgery.
Using a measure called Power Rating – total yards/10 + 6 x touchdowns – the evaluators measured performance of players pre and post-surgery. Running backs experienced a 31% drop in performance in the three years after injury compared to three years prior.
In sum, we see that many players don’t return, and when they do, they get hurt more often and perform worse. Which now brings us to All Day Adrian Peterson.
We already discussed AP’s superhuman status. But his ridiculous recovery is truly something the league has not seen to this point. Firstly, he also sustained injury to his MCL and both menisci. Secondly, he returned to action a mere 37 weeks after surgery. While returns from surgery are getting much shorter with time in general (consider Roberto Baggio, the soccer player who returned from ACL surgery after 77 days), a return that fast to professional American football is basically the bare minimum at this point. Third, he has not missed a snap in 10 games. Finally, he is posting perhaps the best season of his career. This is nothing short of bizarre, even if you consider the modern era of rehab. Look at the other 4 players who sustained ACL injuries in the past year – Tim Hightower is out of the league, Knowshon Moreno is all but done in Denver, Rashard Mendenhall looked spry at first but was soon injured, and Jamaal Charles, while very productive and a success story, has not been what AP has been with a full 3 months more to recover.
Let’s take a peek at AP’s numbers through 10 games this year, and compare them to last year’s first 10 games:
2011 – 186 carries, 872 yards, 4.68YPC, 16 Receptions, 125 yards , 7.8 YPR, 13 total TDs, 3 100 yard games, 17.7 Power Rating per game
2012 – 195 carries, 1128 yards, 5.8YPC, 29 Receptions, 155 yards, 5.3 YPR, 7 total TDs, 5 100 yard games 17.0 Power Rating per game
Not only is he better overall than last year, AP is having career highs in yards per carry and yards from scrimmage per game. He leads the NFL in rushing. He also leads the NFL in making fans say “holy crap!” This guy is an animal. I believe he is setting a new precedent for how ACL recovery will be measured. How has he accomplished this? I say four things – having the greatest surgeon in the world (Dr. James Andrews, of ESPN ticker fame), being a genetic freak, being in fantastic condition prior to surgery, and finally, working his ass off. It’s pretty simple really. All you need is a perfect alignment of conditions and unparalleled work ethic.
Next time, we’ll talk about Derrick Rose and his prognosis for return from surgery. Adrian Peterson advised him to “attack” his rehabilitation. I would say to Derrick – do whatever AP says.
Stephen Caronia is board certfied orthopaedic clinical specialist. He is really slumming it by writing for us.
To contact Stephen or any other other columnist please E-mail – Contact@AfrSports.com
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