Terrel Owens Doctor wont give him clearance to play Superbowl

[jbmagic]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs04/news/story?id=1975261

[Draft Dodger]

least surprising news. ever.

but, don't worry, Eagle fans...you still have Freddy Mitchell (LOLOLOL)

[RPI-Fan]

And does this change in ANY way the decision that will be made re: his status?

NO.

[Joe]

and does this change in ANY way the result of the superbowl?

No. Pats win with TO playing or on the bench.

[stevew]

TO better play, if he doesnt, and the Eagles win, he wont get a Superbowl Ring. However their #3 QB will get one for simply being active. :)

[Suicane75]

TO better play, if he doesnt, and the Eagles win, he wont get a Superbowl Ring. However their #3 QB will get one for simply being active. :)

TO will be active, I have no doubt of that.

[Draft Dodger]

TO better play, if he doesnt, and the Eagles win, he wont get a Superbowl Ring. However their #3 QB will get one for simply being active. :)

nice. I tip my orange felt Freddy Mitchell pimp hat to you.

[Eaglesfan27]

Like others have said. This is not surprising. However, this doesn't mean that T.O. won't play. His doctor just won't sanction it. It's a smart move on the doctor's part to avoid the liability if Owens exacerbates his injury.

[Joe]

TO better play, if he doesnt, and the Eagles win, he wont get a Superbowl Ring. However their #3 QB will get one for simply being active. :)

does that mean Chad Lewis won't be getting a ring if they win? Since he's injured and on the IR, with a replacement having been signed.

[Eaglesfan27]

Only if he existed exclusively in FOF2004 ;)

[rkmsuf]

Two words

Gilbert Mudge

[hhiipp]

I am thinking that Lewis won't receive one if they win, bet that would hurt more than his broken foot.

[Leonidas]

Different spin in the Miami Herald (from the Phildelphia Inquirer). A little more upbeat on TOs prospects of playing.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/10733217.htm
Doctor tells Owens not to play in Super Bowl

But T.O. tells doctor he intends to play

By BOB BROOKOVER

Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA - The orthopedic surgeon who examined Terrell Owens' surgically repaired right ankle on Tuesday told the Eagles' star wide receiver that he should not play in Super Bowl XXXIX.

But according to the doctor, Owens said he would play anyway.

"I'm not releasing him medically," Mark Myerson said. "He's not medically fit to play. However, he has done extremely well in his recovery and his rehab, and he feels he'll be able to play. That is going to be a team decision that they'll have to decide themselves."

Owens did not return phone calls on Tuesday night. Team president Joe Banner said the Eagles had no comment about the doctor's recommendation.

The Baltimore-based surgeon said he informed Owens of the risks involved in playing with two surgical screws in his ankle, but that did not discourage the wide receiver, either.

"He feels he can play and he's going to accelerate his rehab," Myerson said. "He understands the risks. They've been discussed extensively. At this point in time, he wants to take those risks and play."

Asked what risks were involved, Myerson declined to comment.

"Those, I'm not going to discuss right now," he said. "The risks in playing are between myself and my patient."

A team source said the Eagles and Owens will have to make a joint decision about whether he should play in the Feb. 6 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

Myerson inserted the two screws into Owens' ankle Dec. 22 after the receiver had suffered a severe ankle sprain and leg fracture three days earlier against Dallas. Myerson said he understood why his patient would ignore his recommendation.

"I can understand perfectly," Myerson said. "For that reason, it's a dilemma for him and for me. I have to do what's right for the patient, regardless of the circumstances that are taking place right now. He is caught up in the excitement and the heat of the moment. Everybody wants him to be able to play, but in the long run, it's not going to benefit him."

If Owens wants to play, he still has much to prove to coach Andy Reid, trainer Rick Burkholder, and team physicians Peter DeLuca and Paul Marchetto. Reid said Monday that Owens' rehabilitation had not advanced beyond the receiver's running in the pool at the Eagles' NovaCare Complex. Myerson confirmed that.

"He's been running in the pool and doing rehab with the therapist," Myerson said. "He is vastly improved, but he has not healed sufficiently enough that I can give him a full release. There's no instability of the ankle, but he does not have full healing."

Owens, who attended the 76ers' game Monday night against Miami, predicted he would be on the field against the Patriots and said he has had spiritual help in his rehab.

"What a lot of people don't realize is, I have been doing a lot of rehab on my own, healing on my own," Owens said. "Spiritually, God is healing me, and I am way ahead of what a lot of people expected me to be - even the doctor. He is even shocked at what he has seen the times I have gone back there to do my post-op.

"Spiritually I have been healed and I believe I will be out on the field," for the Super Bowl, "regardless of what anybody else says. They can't deny the Man above."

The doctor's recommendation definitely puts the Eagles in a tough spot.

Reid was asked Monday whether he'd allow Owens to play if he wanted to play.

"I have to listen to the doctor and Rick," Reid said. "Inevitably, he has to be able to physically play. Somewhere in the next few days, he's going to try to run on it and jog on it and see what he can do. We'll progress from there. He's been working in the pool and running in the pool; it's just a matter of him getting out and trying it on land without the water."

Quarterback Donovan McNabb said Monday that he felt the Eagles could win the Super Bowl with or without Owens.

"I think he will be back," McNabb said. "But, if he can't be back, we have to continue this ship home."

The Eagles have put up points without Owens in their two playoff games. They scored 27 in each of their victories over the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. During their 14 regular-season games with Owens this season, they averaged 26.4 points per game.

[JeeberD]

Didn't Andy Reid say that if TO's doc didn't clear him than he wouldn't allow TO to play?

[sabotai]

Like others have said. This is not surprising. However, this doesn't mean that T.O. won't play. His doctor just won't sanction it. It's a smart move on the doctor's part to avoid the liability if Owens exacerbates his injury.

Has a player ever sued a team doctor for giving him the OK to play and the injury ended up getting worse? I've heard this liability argument a couple of times and I don't remember a doctor ever getting sued or if he's even liable in the first place.

[MacroGuru]

I am thinking that Lewis won't receive one if they win, bet that would hurt more than his broken foot.

I honestly would think he would get one, since he helped the team get there....In fact....I would be shocked if he did not get one...

[rkmsuf]

Has a player ever sued a team doctor for giving him the OK to play and the injury ended up getting worse? I've heard this liability argument a couple of times and I don't remember a doctor ever getting sued or if he's even liable in the first place.


Reggie Lewis

[sabotai]

Reggie Lewis

Ok...any cases where the player didn't die?

[rkmsuf]

Ok...any cases where the player didn't die?

Same principle. If Owens is cleared and f*cks up his ankle to where he has to retire you can be sure the doc with be hearing about it.

If he plays he signs a waiver.

[sabotai]

If Owens is cleared and f*cks up his ankle to where he has to retire you can be sure the doc with be hearing about it.

But is the doctor legally liable or does the coach just take the doctor's advice and makes his own decisions?

From what I'm hearing, if the doctor does not clear him but the coach wants to put him in, then he can. So if the doctor does clear him and he plays, is the doctor legally liable in that case or is the coach liable in both cases?

I googled for Reggie Lewis' case, and all I found was that the doctor was cleared but they were going to appeal the case.

[rkmsuf]

But is the doctor legally liable or does the coach just take the doctor's advice and makes his own decisions?

From what I'm hearing, if the doctor does not clear him but the coach wants to put him in, then he can. So if the doctor does clear him and he plays, is the doctor legally liable in that case or is the coach liable in both cases?

I googled for Reggie Lewis' case, and all I found was that the doctor was cleared but they were going to appeal the case.

It's very murky and not something any doctor would want to subject himself to.

If the doctor clears him and he's injured in other than a freak way(like a guy falling on his leg or something) than the doctor would clearly have to be at risk considering the magnitude of the event and guy in question here.

I'm willing to bet the doctor will in no way declare him fit to go and leave it up to the coach and Owens to figure it out.

In the Lewis case, his original doctor would in no way clear him to play. They left the hosiptal in the middle of the night and found someone who would.

[Eaglesfan27]

One of my professors at UMDNJ - RWJMS was The Philadelphia Flyer's team doctors for a long time. A flyer who will remain unnamed threatened to sue him for mismanagement of an injury. I'm not a lawyer, but I certainly think a doctor could open themselves up to a malpractice injury by clearing him to play in such a short period of time when the standard of the medical community is that it takes much longer to heal. This announcement really was the only smart choice for the Dr. Myers.

[Kodos]

Has a player ever sued a team doctor for giving him the OK to play and the injury ended up getting worse? I've heard this liability argument a couple of times and I don't remember a doctor ever getting sued or if he's even liable in the first place.

I think O.J. McDuffie sued the Dolphins for making him play on a turf toe injury that was more serious than they led him to believe. Courtesy of my friend, Jimmy Johnson. :mad:

[SoxWin]

One of my professors at UMDNJ - RWJMS was The Philadelphia Flyer's team doctors for a long time. A flyer who will remain unnamed threatened to sue him for mismanagement of an injury. I'm not a lawyer, but I certainly think a doctor could open themselves up to a malpractice injury by clearing him to play in such a short period of time when the standard of the medical community is that it takes much longer to heal. This announcement really was the only smart choice for the Dr. Myers.

Babych or Lindros? Actually, if memory serves, Babych did sue the Flyers successfully

[FrogMan]

speaking of doctors and football teams, I highly recommend this book:
http://www.bookcloseouts.com/images/Large/isbn031/0312136277-l.jpg

http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?R=0312136277B

Overview:
Hired by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1983 as the team internist, Rob Huizenga worked on the sidelines and in the locker room of every game. That first year was the epitome of Raiders football - the silver-and-black team of renegades steamrolled opponents and defeated the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl. For nearly ten years, Huizenga lived in the real NFL trenches, a battlefield atmosphere where getting hurt and partying hard was the name of the game. Jam-packed with close-up anecdotes about football's warriors, this book reveals: the mind games and methods of mysterious Raiders owner Al Davis; the truth about drug and steroid use in the NFL; the pressure on players to perform even when threatened by serious injury; harrowing and hilarious true stories about the side of football fans never see; the wild life and tragic death of Lyle Alzado.

Read it many years ago, amazing stuff in there...

FM

edit to add overview...

[JimboJ]

You don't have to play in the Super Bowl to get a Super Bowl ring. In fact, you don't even need to be a coach or player. The first time the Patriots won it in 2001, every full-time employee of the team and the stadium got a ring. I guess its up to the team owner, but I couldn't imagine any player not getting a ring just because he wasn't active for the SB.

[jbmagic]

You don't have to play in the Super Bowl to get a Super Bowl ring. In fact, you don't even need to be a coach or player. The first time the Patriots won it in 2001, every full-time employee of the team and the stadium got a ring. I guess its up to the team owner, but I couldn't imagine any player not getting a ring just because he wasn't active for the SB.


Not in FOF :)