Grant Newsome's Injury
So we all knew it was bad...bad enough that he was in the hospital for 38 days.
However, he goes on to say here that he was "minutes from losing my leg" (emphasis mine) and that he walked off the field because his mom was at the game and he didn't want her to worry.
I will embed video below. Glad to see he's back with the team and in Rome.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
Newsome shares his story about his horrifying injury pic.twitter.com/nudBG4Cy3r
— angelique (@chengelis) April 25, 2017
April 25th, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
Six surgeries in 40 days? Oh man.
That...sounds expensive.
(and I'm not sure why this is still legal - targeting the knees of unaware linemen) I still feel it was a dirty/cheap shot.
not dirty at all. every db is taught to do that.
Dirty fucking DBs like those Romeo hooligans.
April 26th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
AND if football coaches are former football players,should never be teaching it.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
For those that can't watch a video.
Crazy story! Glad timing was on his/our side. Maybe the football hating gods have some decency
April 25th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
He should consider not playing football anymore. When something like that happens and you get hit on that leg again, he could have serious issues going forward.
Maybe this is just the softie in me, I'm just really worried about his long-term health after something this catastrophic happened to him.
But I know he's an uber competitive kid so I wouldn't be shocked if he goes on to be a stellar player.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
Yeah, I have a feeling he won't play again. Whether it be physically or mentally. He sustained a horrible injury that has to be hard to overcome, especially for a kid his size. He's got a lot of toughness
April 25th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
I wouldn't underestimate self-healing nature, and his leg could very well heal to as if nothing happened. Granted, I don't know the severity, but he is young and young bodies can heal quite remarkably. Is this wishful thinking? Maybe, but, maybe not....
April 25th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
The notion that somebody can be within minutes of losing their leg that required six surgeries to save and yet show no signs of the injury is one of the more ridiculous things I've ever read on MGoBlog. I suppose next you're going to cheerily tell us that Antonio Bass has no lingering effects from his own career-ending knee injury.
Is it possible Newsome can heal enough to play? Yes, but that's vastly different from saying he will heal as though no injury ever occurred. His knee joint will never be what it was pre-injury.
Part of his muscle was removed
April 25th, 2017 at 10:35 AM ^
Yeah, I don't ever want to tell another person what to do but if I was literally minutes away from losing a limb because of a sport, that would give me some pause. Best of luck to him whether its in football, the classroom, whatever.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Modern health sciences is insane. AP healed from an ACL in five months and ran for 2000 yards. I wouldn't say never to anything these days.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
A complete freak of an athlete. And tearing an ACL is completely different than being in a hopsital for a month+ and almost losing your leg.
Newsome is not near that level of body type.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
have not watched the injury. I looked away during the replay and have never seen it. That sounds like the right move from what I have heard.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
It's bad, but you have to really watch it to see it. The knee went backward a couple of inches, it did not bend completely back like Napolean McCallum's leg did. Napolean's, and Joe Theisman's broken leg, make me cringe. Newsome's didn't, but you know its always bad when the knee hyper-extends.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
Adrian Petersen is one of those "once in a generation" athletes who is a complete freak of nature. He also only tore his ACL. Grant Newsome nearly lost his leg.
I do agree that modern medicine is pushing the boundaries of what is now possible, and the advances are insane. But your example is almost comparing apples to oranges.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^
If he were my son, I'd tell him it's not worth the risk. This is especially true given that Grant was literal when he said he was committing to the school, not the program. I remember his ambition was to study history at a great university and football allowed him to do so. Either way, obvious best wishes are in order.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
I am squeamish enough that I had to turn away from the TV when it happened live, and I'm still too squeamish to watch it now. What actually happened to his leg on that day?
April 25th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
ala a joe theismann type of injury. the PSU safety came up as newsome was clearing space for a run to the left as i remember. the safety basically dove at his knees and it looked like a hyperextension maybe. obviously the internal damage was pretty traumatic, much beyond what the play looked like.
Newsome was injured early in the second quarter of the Wisconsin game (not during the PSU game, which was the previous week).
April 25th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
Right as he was planting his right foot and transferring weight to it, the hip bone of the defender made forceful contact directly to the knee cap causing the leg to flex backward and to the side in such a way that no knee was ever designed to bend. Likely severe damage was dealt to the ACL, MCL, and PCL along with damage to the articular cartilage and meniscus. Timing wise it was basically the worse possible for that type of contact.
we have no idea why there was consideration of losing his leg. it could have been bad infections or bleeding. i think there were rumors of that.
if the leg is structurally sound after the surgeries, i don't see why he can't come back. but it is up to him, his family and his doctors.
it's silly to write him off at this point, or he likely would have quit already.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
Really good that he got past those critical minutes. Whether he ends up back on the field or no, real happy for him.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
A lot of prayers said for this young man. Glad he is returning to health.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
a fucking warrior
April 25th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
And here I thought it wasn't that bad when he walked off under his own power.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
My exact sentiments. I remember thinking how great a sign it was that he limped off the field, even though the replay showed what should have been a bad knee injury.
I have mad respect for this guy for what he endured.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm really curious what the injury was. What would be the drawback of just saying what happened? There must have been internal bleeding or something.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
Seems like compartment syndrome to me.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
I had to Google compartment syndrome. Acute compartment syndrome seems to fit what we know so far. Hopefully they were able to stave off permanent damage.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Considering it appears on the pan down that he has had a skin graft on his leg which is common in a fasciotomy which is used to treat acute compartment syndrome, blood wasn't reaching his calf and he had to have part of the calf muscle removed which are also generally related as well, I'd say it fits perfectly.
Just speculating but I agree the story fits with a torn artery and severe bleeding into the calf muscle which is surrounded by a tough coating, the fascia, and this put pressure into the calf compressing all the other tissues robbing them of blood flow. The bleeding had to be contolled and the tough coating (fascia) of the calf muscle had to be split open and left open to relieve the pressure. Then only after all the swelling went down, they could close the fascia and skin. This might take several weeks before they could safely close things up. He might have needed a skin graft to help close the gaping wound needed to relieve the pressure and restore circulation. Once this compartment syndrome crisis was over and normal healing could take place, eventually they could close the fasciotomy. Only then could they consider reparing the torn ligaments and injured cartilage of the knee. The sequence of events could easily take 38 days. He still might have a full recovery of the torn knee ligaments and be able to play again much like other athletes who have "simply" torn the ligaments.
I've had compartment syndrome in my left thigh- helmet point perfectly placed dead center of my quad while my knee was locked. Most pain I've ever experienced. I couldn't get them to cut it fast enough. The pure heat radiating off my quad was unbelievable, pain so deep it felt like it was in the bone.
Anyway, for the 16 weeks it took to even think about jogging again, it was pretty catastrophic. Random shooting pains like my muscle was literally tearing in half.
But, with great medical care and steady PT I was able to make a true full recovery. That quad is to this day a little smaller than the right, but I have just as much range, strength, and burst as I ever did. I think this is, if his injury is anything like mine, a different kind of catastrophic where the immediate potential consequences are far higher (loss of limb or much worse if infection sets in) and the long term consequences are usually not very threatening to an athletic career. ACL's etc are less immediately dangerous but usually have much more uncertainty long term for the playing career of the athlete.
Hope his story ends up like mine- kid's got monster determination.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:35 AM ^
Beyond structural damage, you start thinking about nerve and vascular damage. I hope he fully recovers and has a tremendous life with or without football.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:35 AM ^
Technically not a dirty play (it's legal), but I don't think a pulling OL expects to be hit below the waist.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:01 AM ^
It's a physical game but we also need to protect the players. It seems like a high risk play to a guy that can't really protect himself.
The flip side is how do you and do you need to protect the small fast guy from getting buried by the OL trying to stand up the play?
It's a tough question.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
Yeah, tough question. That play happens 20 times a game, and once in a great while shit happens. Unfortunately for Grant, it happened on his timeline. I can count the number of hyperextended knees I've seen on one hand after 40-some years of watching football. But I don't ever want to see another one. Tough question, indeed...
Just because it's legal doesn't mean football players don't know damn well what happens when you throw your armored body full speed into a knee. I ain't ending someone's playing career just because I'm getting beat, but -- and I may be opening myself up to ridicule here because it sure feels like an exception these days -- I'm not a goddamn psychopath.
It's legal so nothing will happen, but that Wiscy player was as dirty as an unwiped ass after burrito night.
they should expect it. dbs are taught to do that. chop him down and make a pile.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
infection after surgery.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
Would that infection take hold so quickly that they needed to rush him into surgery that night to save his leg? (Not a Doctor, obviously).
April 25th, 2017 at 11:01 AM ^
Did you watch the video? That doesn't line up with what he said (it was the injury itself that almost cost him his leg and the risk of losing his leg was immediately after the injury).
April 25th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
First off real happy that they saved his leg. Wish he could have talked how his rehab was going. Does anyone know?.
Negged me for being concerned about the mans recovery. Has nothing to do with playing football again.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
Can someone explain to me like they would to a 10 year old the science behind why his leg was almost amputated?
April 25th, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
He would lose circulation below the bleed and his lower leg would be damaged maybe irreparably thus the threat of amputation. An infection is not that immediate and would likely be treated with courses of antibiotics prior to amputation. Possibly compartment syndrome from swelling due to injury and/or tight bandages cutting off circulation to his leg.