Lamarr Houston tears ACL celebrating a meaningless sack

[Mike the Brit]

Hey they're! Their should be at least a minimum requirement.

Should of, could of, would of ...

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I guess I'd say that the punishment is out of proportion to the crime: a mere moment of acting like a clueless, self-centered doofus vs. many long months of pain and grueling rehab, with your whole career in jeopardy.

The only time injuries count as just deserts, IMO, is when a player was doing something illegal and dangerous to an opponent. Proper karma for Houston would have been something more along the lines of his pants falling down as he strutted like an idiot.

Or, say, after the next play he inadvertently strikes a ref and gets ejected.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Should of, could of, would of ...

 

[Mike the Brit]

No question: guilty as charged. Still, anyone who brings viola jokes (in German!) to a football website is probably, as they say, trop beau pour ce monde.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Do you have a view about why ACL tears are so common? Is it that the athletes are so ... er, muscularly highly developed that the rest of the body is simply overtaxed? Or does it have to do with the artificial turf?

I ski a lot so I know and see many people who have ACL (and PCL) tears. There it seems clear that the growth in ACL/PCL damage has to do with the improvement of safety bindings -- before they'd have fractured their leg. I've also noticed that lightly built women seem to be particularly susceptible, though I have no statistics to prove it.

ACL tears in skiing happen most commonly with what is called a phantom foot injury, where a skier gets into the back seat on a downhill and lands cleanly, forcing the mass of the body forward through the knee. This does not translate into an upward force on the heel piece of the binding, and thus release does not occur. The so-called knee bindings with upward releasing toe pieces supposedly do a better job of preventing this type of injury, although I think that is more to protect the PCL for the skiers landing jumps switch.

Slight girls do tend to be more prone to ACL injuries. Women's soccer players have a rate of ACL tears exceeded only by competitive skiers. The reason that women tend to be more prone to ACL tears is that their hamstrings are generally less well developed than in men. (The hamstring pulls across the knee joint in the same direction as the ACL, and thus, stronger hamstrings limit the stress applied to the ACL in many potential injury scenarios.) FWIW, recent changes to traditional strength and conditioning programs are improving the rate of ACL tears in female soccer players, as young women do more work in the weight room, rather than just running a lot. (Ski racers are another breed entirely and don't stand a chance if they land the wrong way when moving at 80mph.)

 

[Mike the Brit]

Thanks a lot.

That sorta makes sense -- especially the bit about hamstring strength. The two ACL injuries I can remember witnessing on skis looked to me like slow-motion twists. In one I think the skis did come off.

But something like Houston's injury still puzzles me. It's hard to understand how so mild-looking a movement by a highly-conditioned athlete could have such drastic consequences.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

I think in Houston's case, it could be a function of being large enough in the upper body to put his lower body at risk. Add to that a relaxed, rather than active hamstring, on account of stupid, and landing in the back seat like he and Tulloch did leads to injury. I'd suspect that this is shared in locker rooms across the country this week and that this is the last we see of this specific thing.

 

[Tasco]

Well, how about our entire OL and the RBs...almost all of them on our team celebrate our TDs jumping up,bumping each other...it's a wonder that nothing ever happened, I hope they took note on what can happen!

 

[raduray]

He would of caught it if he'd been dominate! Discuss.

Well, since you're asking for feedback, it's "He would have caught it", not "He would of caught it".

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Well, since you're asking for feedback, it's "He would have caught it if he'd been dominant", not "He would of caught it had if he'd been dominate".

FYPFY.

 

[raduray]

FYPFY.

Yeah, that too

 

[Wax Frog]

Well, since you're asking for feedback, it's "He would have caught it", not "He would of caught it".

I'm actually disappointed that you didn't show my 'dominate' any love. Now I'm all like flustrated. Maybe I need a brake from the forums.

 

[pctronics0072]

Do you have a view about why ACL tears are so common? Is it that the athletes are so ... er, muscularly highly developed that the rest of the body is simply overtaxed? Or does it have to do with the artificial turf?

I ski a lot so I know and see many people who have ACL (and PCL) tears. There it seems clear that the growth in ACL/PCL damage has to do with the improvement of safety bindings -- before they'd have fractured their leg. I've also noticed that lightly built women seem to be particularly susceptible, though I have no statistics to prove it.

Football in general can lead to ACL tears through many mechanisms. We have the obvious planted foot with tackle at the leg/knee a la Gronk/Brady. The artificial turf offers less give and thus makes this a bit more common now IMO. Also, the nature of the tackles where limbs can get caught under people while you are being rammed in the opposite direction. Also, you can't "train" an ACL like training a muscle to make it stronger. As training becomes better and athletes are more muscular (ignoring PEDs at this time), tackles are harder. Finally, with the league restrictions on tackles, less room for error (ACL tears are obviously better than severe concussions leading to permanent neuro issues).

My experience with skiing involves two lessons when I was 13, I think. I saw a person break both femurs in front of me and that was about it for my foray into skiing. I think in my years of practice, I have seen 1-2 skiers with ACL tears total as no huge ski area near me. Both of theirs were severe fall related and were not their only injuries. One of them, a ~30yo, she will always need a cane to walk because on the other side she destroyed the distal part of her femur. I think my colleague said it was in 6-7 pieces or something. For her, there was no point in repairing the ACL at all.

-

As for Houston, pretty clear how he tore his ACL. We called it right when it happened. Google says he weighs 305 pounds. He jumped in the air pretty hard, and then landed on his feet. So far so good, no harm. However, remember, he still has momentum as most of his 305 pound frame is still moving down. In addition, most jumps are not perfect in that one side hits before the other. Also, he "landed" in a SITTING-type position. Therefore, the femur is going to be jerked up like a lever and suffer translation at the knee. Remember, his foot is planted and not going anywhere. Therefore the movement of the femur relative to the knee yanked the ACL apart. My guess is he was not planted, he would have fallen on his *** and not done any damage other than his pride and a few bruises. In fact, in many of the gifs, you can actually see right when it happened. You are looking for the give in the right knee. Bear in mind, there is some give in the left knee as well, but not that bad.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Great post! Thanks -- I learned a lot (will have to digest it). Takeaway message: probability of damage to ACL increases as (1) other muscles get strengthened (ligaments as weakest link), and (2) the possibility of uncushioned impact (surfaces without "give")/torsion at unexpected angles increases. Put those together and an NFL athlete on an artificial turf surface who twists unpredictably is a high risk.