Surgeon has high praise for Sooners he repaired
BY JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Columnist
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
1/08/13 at 6:26 AM
In the sports world, orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews is the surgeon to the stars. If a major player has needed major surgery over the past 20 years, chances are Andrews did the operation.
In a phone interview with the Tulsa World last week to promote his new book, "Any Given Monday," Andrews discussed three recent patients, former Oklahoma Sooners Adrian Peterson, Sam Bradford and Ryan Broyles:
On Adrian Peterson
"Oh lord, what a miracle that's been. That guy, he's something else, man. He's done things - he's probably the hallmark of anybody recovering from an ACL injury, and it wasn't me. I'm not taking credit for it. I tell people about him, the story goes, if you operate on the right athlete, he makes you look good as a physician. That guy is just an animal. I don't know if that's the right word or not, but he deserves all the credit for getting through his, along with his therapist and his athletic trainer there with the Minnesota Vikings.
"He just had a knee that didn't have any wear in it at all. That's genetics. That guy was built that way. The Good Lord made him that way. Most of the guys in that category have already got wear in their knee when they tear their ACL, but he had strong articular cartilage and didn't have any wear whatsoever when he tore his ACL. So it gave us a good platform to fix him."
On Sam Bradford
"Oh lord. Yeah, he's another. He didn't want to have it fixed (after injuring it in the 2009 season opener), and he kept wanting to play. I finally let him play. He wanted to play against Texas, and they dumped him on his shoulder early in the game. I told him if he got hurt again, we were gonna fix it, so that sort of forced the issue. And then we had to operate on his collarbone joint. But he was a competitor. In fact, I'm seeing him this next week for some year-ending things with him. He's coming down to Pensacola to see me.
"If you wanted a kid as an athlete, as a son, he'd be one you want. He's the epitome of a fine, young gentleman. He did everything right. He stayed with us down at the Andrews Institute in Pensacola for a full month rehabbing every day. That was his major job. That's what got him going."
On Ryan Broyles
"One of the nicest kids I've ever met. He came to see me after he tore his ACL his senior year in college and he wanted me to work on him down in Pensacola because he was going into the draft. ... Now he's torn it again (the other ACL) with Detroit and came to see me. I just did him two or three weeks ago. He's gonna be fine. He's a survivor. Great kid, let me tell you."
