Denard Played through Staph Infection

Submitted by ryngonzalez on

Super short article:

QB Denard Robinson played through myriad injuries this season, including a staph infection in his arm, which was disclosed for the first time Friday. Coach Brady Hoke said the injury was serious enough that he worried about Robinson missing time, but it was never critical enough to quarantine Robinson from his teammates.

Might explain his performance early in the season. 

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rapid-reports/post/16384173

MGlobules

December 9th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^

and lay 50 on V Tech, jump-start next year's Heisman campaign. Meanwhile, MSU gets pounded by Georgia--we end up in the top 5 and they are out of all the polls. 

funandgun

December 9th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^

D-andy???  I am a little slow and sometimes might be missing something....BTW, I can't get enough of the giant pictures of celebreties being part of the play calling system....moar of that please....makes the game more entertaining.

Here2CWoodson

December 9th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^

I remember a few guys on my high school football team getting staff infections, and it didnt limit their play at all. In what ways would this limit Denards abilities?

well.....

December 9th, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^

saying someone has a staph infection is similar to saying they got into a car accident. it could be a fender bender or their car could be totaled. a staph infection can range from a small pimple that your immune system takes care of before you notice it to an infection that continues to spread through skin, soft tissue and potentially into the blood, requiring hospitalization. it seems clear that his infection was on his forearm or elbow and was significant enough to require treatment.  it's also surprising how a small degree of inflammation in the correct spot can be extremely painful, especially an area like his arm that is exposed to a lot of contact and movement. it's all pure speculation, but i could imagine an abcess close to his elbow causing enough discomfort to affect his throwing, especially since it was sizable enough and/or persisted long enough to require treatment.  

Blazefire

December 9th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^

See, Steve Everitt played with a broken jaw, but it didn't hurt. Pain doesn't come to Steve Everitt. It hides from him, trembling in the dark.

Seriously... afflictions of the human body don't get anywhere near that much badass.

jmblue

December 9th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^

I don't think this explains his early-season performance.  He's probably played through greater pain than that.  The hypothesis about Borges changing his delivery could be on the right track. 

BiSB

December 9th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^

I don't think we'll ever be sure how much it affected him at any given point. I'm sure it didn't HELP... but did it hurt his performance more than the transition to a new system? Or the feeling-out period with Borges?

The world... may never know.

Raoul

December 9th, 2011 at 10:58 PM ^

Well, Kyle Meinke has a new annarbor.com article that indicates the staph infection was serious enough that he had to be hospitalized for one night, so maybe this does explain his early-season performance:

While the world criticized Denard Robinson for his declining accuracy and growing inconsistency, he had a secret.

The Michigan football team's star quarterback was suffering from a staph infection on his right arm -- his throwing arm.

It was serious, too. Serious enough, he landed in the hospital for a night.

He nearly missed a game.

. . .

Robinson said the infection bothered him for two or three weeks, and there was a concern at one point whether he'd even be able to take snaps in practice.

"There were times I couldn't take some, but I was OK," Robinson said. "(Center David) Molk eased the snap into my hands. I mean, he's one of the best centers in the country.

B-Nut-GoBlue

December 9th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^

I remember this earlier in the season though I do forget if it was his throwing arm that was affected?  From the comments I've read it sounds like it was. Any confimation?!

Mr. Yost

December 9th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^

Remember he wore that cream colored pad on his arm?

And it definitely a pad...not a sleeve like Hemingway wears.

It was also around the time Devin was playing a lot and Speilman and Urban Meyer were going nuts from the booth.

Mr. Yost

December 9th, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^

Wait...

so it wasn't just a boo boo?

 

Wait...

so Chris Spielman can shut up about Devin Gardner playing so much?

 

Wait...

so this contributed to Denard struggling to throw the ball mid season?

 

Noted.

LB

December 9th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^

Robinson was so secretive about the injury that junior safety Jordan Kovacs had no idea about the injury until he was told by the media Friday afternoon. Senior defensive tackle Mike Martin knew about Robinson's infection but not about his hospitalization. It was the first of a multitude of injuries for Robinson this season, including injuries to his hand, wrist and another previously undisclosed abdominal injury. All of this left him fighting through injuries throughout the season. "There was a lot going on, but we had to fight through it," Robinson said. "We just had to keep fighting."

thethirdcoast

December 10th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^

....fact that Denard played through all of these injuries and impediments really speaks to his basic toughness. It also explains why he may not have had the same 'burst' when trying to run the ball at points during the season. Things like the staph infection aren't immediately evident, but I can imagine they take a ton of energy out of the victim.

Blazefire

December 10th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^

We already knew Denard Robinson was 17 kinds of awesome. It turns out, he's also totally badass.

Denard Robinson: The most handsome, talented, fastest, most humble and most badass guy you totally wish you were.