Baltimore Sun: Three who have struggled

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.profiles02jul02,0,7933619.story?coll=bal-sports-football

From the Baltimore Sun

Three who have struggled

July 2, 2006

Among the NFL retired players most in need are those who played during the pre-1959 era. The median public pension average for 70- to 79-year-olds, from that era, is $16,200 a year. Here are three examples of players who struggle to make ends meet on their NFL pensions.

SISTO AVERNO

• Personal // 81 years old, living in Baltimore with his wife, Margaret, and daughter, Dina.

• Career // Played guard on offense and linebacker on defense in a five-year career (1950-1954) with the Baltimore Colts, New York Yankees and Dallas Texans.

• Pension // $1,000 a month.

• Issues // Has endured four-way heart bypass surgery, knee and hip replacements, a stroke and separate surgeries to clear out both carotid arteries in his neck.

• Quote // "My father is not one to complain about anything," said Dina Averno. "He's from the old school. He played with dislocated shoulders. If he could walk, he'd still be working now."

JOHN HENRY JOHNSON

• Personal // 76, living in Fremont, Calif., with his daughter, Kathy Moppin.

• Career // Played one year in the CFL, 12 in the NFL and finished with the Houston Oilers in the AFL in 1966. Rushed for 1,000 yards twice with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

• Pension // Approximately $1,600 a month.

• Issues // Has early-onset dementia and serious short-term memory problems. Also has a pacemaker and takes a dozen medications.

• Quote // "My dad's a great warrior," said Moppin, a nurse. "He needs to be taken care of, and I feel bad he's not taken better care of. I'm not making a lot of money. I know at some point, I will have to make a decision for a higher level of care."

JOE PERRY

• Personal // 79, living in Chandler, Ariz., with his wife, Donna.

• Career // Played 14 years with the San Francisco 49ers and two with the Baltimore Colts. A 200-pound fullback, Perry rushed for nearly 10,000 yards and scored 504 points. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.

• Pension // $1,489 per month from pre-1959 years and $167 for his last four years as a vested player.

• Issues // Has pugilistic dementia and suffers from short-term memory loss.

• Quote // "People expect Joe, because he's in the Hall of Fame, to come and appear at [different functions] because he's got money," Donna said. "There's no money. We're on a fixed income, so we have to budget everything."

[Ken Murray]

Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun

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Louisville honors a star who stayed: Hornung

They unveiled a sparkling 7-foot statue of Paul Hornung outside Louisville Slugger Field last night. He was surrounded by all the expected big shots, former football players and politicians.

They told the Paul Hornung stories they always tell. You know the ones. Lots of booze. Lots of women. Lots of wagering. Lots of reminders that Hornung's nickname -- the Golden Boy -- fits him better than a Brioni suit.

"He was the best football player who ever played," said Max McGee, Hornung's former teammate -- and fellow night owl -- in Green Bay. "He could run, throw, kick, block. Paul could do it all."

A smile betrayed McGee as the crowd awaited the punchline.

"But boy, you should have seen him after the game," McGee said. "He was twice as good then."

Hornung played along with the party-boy theme. He always has. Hornung's trademark line has always been that he's gone through life on scholarship.

But tucked into the fourth row in the gathering of several hundred people at the corner of Preston and Witherspoon streets, hidden by the football legends like McGee and Jerry Kramer, horsemen like D. Wayne Lukas and politicians like Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, were reminders there is more to Hornung than a martini and a wandering eye.

Always has been, even if those Hornung stories don't draw as many laughs as the ones about how late Hornung and McGee stayed out on the night before the first Super Bowl.

Ask Sister Rebecca Miles. Or Sister Clara Johnson.

They work at the Sister Visitor Center at 2235 West Market Street. And every time Hornung receives a photograph or bobblehead doll to autograph, he asks the person requesting the autograph to make a donation to the Sister Visitor Center. Hornung sets aside other money for the four scholarships he has endowed at Notre Dame, his alma mater.

That's been Hornung's game plan for a long as either Sister can remember.

"His loyalty and caring is greatly appreciated," Sister Clara said. "We couldn't do so many of the things we do in helping people with food or clothing or medical emergencies without Paul's generosity."

Sister Rebecca said Hornung does not have a secretary deliver the donations to the center. Hornung brings them, several times a month. For Hornung it's a trip back to the Portland neighborhood where he grew up with his mother, Loretta, the neighborhood where he began his remarkable football journey at Flaget High School.

We spend so much time talking about Hornung's 1956 Heisman Trophy and the record 176 points he scored for the Packers in 1960 that we forget the most remarkable thing about Hornung isn't that he could always find the end zone. No, it's that he always found his way back to Louisville.

The man could have been a celebrity anywhere in the country. But the only part of the country that mattered to him was Louisville. You get a statue better looking than any of those starlets Hornung used to chase when you show the loyalty to your hometown that Hornung has shown.

"This has always been my home," Hornung said. "I've never left. And I'll never leave.

"A lot of wonderful things have happened to (wife) Angela and me, but nothing like this. It gives me the opportunity to represent my hometown forever, and it's something I'll never forget."

Lenny Lyles has known Hornung since high school. Lyles played at Central, then at the University of Louisville and then with the Baltimore Colts. Lyles is a successful businessman, but he remembers when he couldn't secure financing to construct the Lyles Mall at 26th and Broadway.

"Paul and (his late business partner) Frank Metts made it happen," Lyles said. "Paul really went to bat for me. He went to the banks and told them I was trying to do something for my hometown, just like he was."

Last night Paul Hornung's hometown did something for him. And it didn't have anything to do with the late nights, the women or the booze.

You can reach Rick Bozich at (502) 582-4650 or rbozich@courier-journal.com. Submit questions at courier-journal.com/bozich.

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Living Heart Foundation’s Shape-a-Life CV Program

Life in the National Football League may be exciting, but it is also physically and emotionally demanding. The Founder and Director of the Living Heart Foundation (LHF), Arthur “Archie” Roberts, MD, played briefly, while going to medical school, as a back-up QB in the mid-1960’s with the Cleveland Browns and the Miami Dolphins. He later became a well-known heart surgeon for over 20 years. During that period, although he personally felt pretty good, trouble was brewing inside his body. He rarely saw his doctor, discovered he had high blood cholesterol, and put on a little too much weight. One day, while speaking to other doctors, he unexpectedly had a stroke. Fortunately, his stroke was mild and reversible. He had a second chance with the rest of his life and is committed to helping players avoid the mistakes that he made. From these life experiences, the players health program or “Shape-a-Life Program” was born.

The LHF, a non-profit entity, founded by Archie in 2001, uses its established nationwide healthcare network to provide technically advanced, voluntary, health screenings for active and retired professional football players at regional participating medical facilities within major geographical areas around the country. The LHF works closely with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) to plan and deliver the health screening program. The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and its Chapters, as well as the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) assist the Foundation by providing skilled personnel to assist at the screenings and expert medical planning to strengthen program content. A program goal is to offer a CV health screening program designed to improve the early identification of health risk in these former elite athletes, without a financial charge to the players for the screenings. An example of a category of football players who might benefit most from our health screening would include players of very large body mass who would be expected to have, or soon develop, a variety of co-morbidities including hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Such conditions are highly associated with heart disease and stroke. It will also be interesting to correlate such medical co-morbidities and specific health screening findings with the extent of athletic injuries encountered during their careers. Regularly scheduled repeat screening tests will provide the LHF with the ability to define health risk stratification for the players. This knowledge will empower them to learn about ways to limit the impact of evolving health problems that may occur as they actively complete and subsequently age in their lives after football. In some ways, the transitional time from active to retired player, and the subsequent several year period, may be a particularly vulnerable period for many former elite football players.

The LHF medical group will coordinate regional health screenings, health improvement guidelines and specific programs for the player and, if the player chooses, his personal physician. For the retired players, an interactive website and electronic medical record for preventive health information and individual health tracking is also available. Individualized program plans in nutrition, exercise, lifestyle health, motivational guides and general preventive medicine will be available to interested former players. The LHF team provides health guidance and is available to answer health questions that might concern the retired player.

The player also has the option of carrying a health card, which allows the player, or his loved ones, to provide access to his health information as desired. Thus, a healthcare professional, on a 24/7 basis, anywhere in the world that is internet-enabled, may receive health data within minutes. This process supports better medical care for the player. The player initially signs permission forms to participate in the screening and permit inclusion of his data into an anonymous group database that will be analyzed by the LHF scientific group. A confidential preventative health record will be created and given to each participant including direct screening results, as well as medical interpretations of results from echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, pulmonary function tests, blood tests and sleep apnea screening. The findings from the health history questionnaire, nutritional survey, exercise pattern and lifestyle profiles can also be included in this individual health record. In addition, all of the health information will be maintained in the LHF confidential group health record database. That database concept permits tracking and evaluation per individual, as well as outcomes analysis of the collective health for the whole group.

The LHF program does not end with health screening and the delivery of results to players. The players will be tracked by the LHF and individual health trends are discussed with them as their health data is studied. The retired athletes are shown the LHF health programs and guidance will be offered when particular health needs are identified. The LHF group is willing to communicate with the retired player’s personal physician, if the player desires such interaction. At all times, the LHF would respect the patient- physician relationship that exists between the ex-player and his doctor. The LHF would function as a health resource and a scientific study group helping to provide understanding related to health outcomes in retired football players. The LHF believes that preventive health efforts are long-term and involve lifestyle changes and self-motivation. In the retired player, this may be accomplished through a joint effort involving the LHF, the retired player and his personal physician. Such teamwork will go a long way in improving health and reducing future medical expenses for these former players. The health screening program is administered by the LHF in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Foundation utilizes dedicated volunteers, regional area doctors, nurses and hospital healthcare technicians and hospital partner facilities for the regional health screenings. A LHF network physician is also present at each regional screening.

The health screening team training center is located at Monmouth University, in central New Jersey. The health database center and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for the LHF program is situated at the Penn State Medical School in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The LHF utilizes its network of medical advisors and practicing physicians to oversee the screening procedure, education, tracking process and data analysis. Physicians licensed in each state also actively participate in the review of the health testing information gathered in their state. As part of its mission, the LHF also establishes public relations efforts, including participation in community-based and scientific meetings to promote the importance of health prevention, early identification of health problems, and institution of lifestyle health programs to minimize adverse health outcomes. A LHF team objective is to work with the active and retired players to increase the public’s awareness of proactive health measures and preventive wellness. The Foundation has formed a close association with the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes ( CSRA ) at the University of North Carolina which joins LHF at each screening event. The LHF has also entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). The NFLPA has agreed to champion players’ health and supports the LHF in its effort to improve health outcomes in players. Together, these three organizations form a nurturing triangle which encourages players to participate in our regional CV health screening program

A recent cooperative effort couples the actions and dedication of active and retired players who participate in our health screening program with community health efforts organized by the LHF and its Sponsors. Such outreach efforts should help us to acquire financial support from new sources in communities across the country. Joint fundraising efforts, including golf tournaments and outreach to regional companies by the NFLPA and its local Chapters, will enable our health programs to expand to new areas and include more current and retired players. The LHF and the players will also influence younger elementary, high school and college students, including minorities, to learn more about their health and how they can maximize the quality of their lives as they prepare for the future. Together, the NFLPA, its players, CSRA and LHF provide a powerful tool to raise awareness about the dangers related to cardiovascular disease. Our collective organizations have identified childhood obesity and minority health disparity, including conditions affecting African Americans and Hispanics, as outreach programs demanding our special interests in the upcoming year. We plan to educate, screen and develop follow-up plans in communities to minimize the health gap among racial groups in this country. Together, our groups, in conjunction with hospitals and universities around the country can and will make a difference.

Currently available LHF health screenings include:

• Electrocardiograms (ECGs)
• Echocardiograms (ECHOs)
• Carotid vascular ultrasound
• Pulmonary function tests (PFTs)
• Blood sugar, cholesterol profile,
• Blood liver enzyme, triglycerides
• Body mass index and body fat
• Blood pressure and pulse analysis
• Sleep Apnea (overnight home sleep)
• Cardiac risk assessment
• Health history questionnaire
• Nutritional health status
• Exercise performance
• Lifestyle motivation profile

Although the Living Heart Foundation’s state of the art, computerized screening equipment provides some immediate, on-the-spot findings to be discussed with the player; electrocardiograms, pulmonary function tests, echocardiograms, carotid ultrasounds and sleep apnea studies are sent electronically to our MD specialists for analysis and reports. These results are returned confidentially to the individual player within four weeks of the screening event.

The LHF began delivering this coordinated health program in the summer of 2003.Our organization is fortunate to have had Pfizer as the initial Sponsor for the Foundation’s CV Health Screening Program for active and retired professional football players. The LHF and its partners are also now expanding Sponsorship participation as the program grows and the number of player’s and communities participating in programs around the country increases dramatically.

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x-NFL players at higher risk of heart trouble, studies say

By LEE BOWMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
03-JUN-06

There's new evidence that living large, and particularly bulking up to play football, increases the risk for heart disease.

Two studies of nearly 400 retired National Football League players show that more than half of the game's biggest men -- the linemen -- suffer from heightened risk factors for heart disease and are 54 percent more likely to have enlarged hearts than other former players.

The results, presented Saturday during the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Echocardiography in Baltimore, are part of mounting evidence that football's super-sized competitors are at increased risk of illness and death related to their weight.

"NFL linemen are required to increase their size and strength to remain competitive, which may expose them to risks later in life," said Dr. Martin Goldman, director of the echocardiography lab at the Mount Sinai Heart Center and a professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and a senior author of both studies.

A Scripps Howard News Service study of deaths among more than 3,850 active and retired pro football players born since 1905, published in January, found that the heaviest athletes were more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates. Looking at the deaths of 130 players born before 1955, the study found that 77 were obese and a fifth died of heart disease.

Another study, done for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, found that retired NFL linemen have a three times greater risk of dying from heart disease than players at other positions.

Data for the latest studies were compiled by the Living Heart Foundation, a national non-profit heart health screening program set up for professional, college and high school football players five years ago by retired heart surgeon and NFL quarterback Dr. Archie Roberts.

Roberts, a backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins in the mid-1960s while he was also a medical student, set up the foundation after he himself suffered a mild stroke. He had been largely ignoring his own weight gain and high cholesterol.

Since 2003, the foundation, in cooperation with the NFL Players Association, has done screenings of about 700 retired players, with test data from about 400 used in the new studies.

"These studies affirm what we have long believed, that retired NFL athletes may want to consider having heart ultrasound tests and metabolic screenings to detect cardiovascular health problems before they become advanced and more likely to harm these former players," Roberts said.

For one study, the researchers analyzed echocardiograph results from 210 non-linemen and 93 linemen and found that the linemen were 54 percent more likely to have an enlarged heart. Many athletes who undergo vigorous conditioning, from high school through the professional ranks, develop enlarged hearts in the left ventricular and left atrial areas, which are considered risk factors for heart disease, stroke and death in the general population.

"This is just a snapshot of one exam in these retired players, but the results for the linemen are still significant,'' said Dr. Lori Croft, deputy director of the Mount Sinai lab. "The literature suggests that in many athletes, the enlargement of the heart regresses after the intensive workouts end. But this study shows thicker hearts persisting in many retired NFL players. The average age of the study group was 53, so most of the players had been out of the game for at least 10 or 15 years."

While not even all retired athletics need to have the ultrasound tests, the study demonstrates that the tests can reveal persistent problems, the researchers said.

The second study evaluated 252 non-linemen and 130 linemen for metabolic syndrome, a group of heart disease risk factors that include high blood pressure, obesity based on body mass index, poor cholesterol profiles and insulin resistance.

Among the general population, 21.8 percent of adults have metabolic syndrome. Among the retired linemen, 50.7 percent met the criteria, while the non-linemen actually fell slightly below average at 20.3 percent.

"Waistlines are expanding in the NFL and in the non-athlete population," Croft said. "There are a lot of big people out there. If people see this can happen to elite athletes, they may realize this can happen to anyone.

"Football players aren't unique in thinking they don't need to worry about cholesterol or blood pressure until they're in their 60s or 70s. If these results lead to greater awareness of this threat and lifestyle changes among athletes or non-athletes to address it, we'll be getting a payoff from this."

On the Net: www.asecho.org

www.livingheartfoundation.org

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Retired players face gloomy days

Pain can be mental as well as physical after NFL stint ends

Don Pierson
Published May 31, 2006

When retired players convene Thursday in Phoenix for their NFL Players Association meeting, they will find out they are just as likely as anybody else to suffer from mental issues such as depression.

"You could say retired football players are at least as likely to be depressed as the general population, or they may be even a touch more likely, but it's not hugely less or hugely more in either direction," said Thomas Schwenk of the Depression Center at the University of Michigan medical school, which conducted a recent survey.

To former player Andre Collins, director of retired players for the NFLPA, this is good news.

"We just completed the study," Collins said. "I'm not sure where we're going to go with it. For me personally, it was comforting to know--and I want to reiterate--that the risk of this occurring is basically the same as the general population."

To former Bears player Bob Kilcullen, who has suffered from depression since before starting his career in the 1950s, it's a long-overdue study that could help hundreds, maybe thousands, like him.

"I didn't consider it a big problem in those days," Kilcullen said. "I just dealt with it."

To Schwenk, it's a chance for the Michigan Depression Center to address the group and offer the possibility of an interactive educational DVD.

"I think most of us have the idea these are elite athletes, [so] they have no right to be depressed, no reason to be depressed," Schwenk said. "We just want to highlight the fact that everybody has a reason to be depressed."

Schwenk said he got an unusually high 50 percent response from the 3,400 questionnaires sent to retired NFLPA members. There are about 10,000 more retired NFL players who aren't union members. The surveys were self-reported, so Schwenk cannot verify the results, but he found:

"Roughly 20 percent of retired players who have a real high level of misery and dysfunction and life difficulty, and they're kind of dumped out there without a lot of resources. Roughly 15 percent scored in the moderate to severe range in terms of depression symptoms. If we took that group and interviewed them in a more clinical and structured way, probably half to two-thirds of those--maybe 7, 8, 10 percent--would actually be labeled or meet criteria for having a label of clinical depression. That's a touch more than the general population."

Two issues make the survey of pro football players unique and may exacerbate issues of mental health, according to the doctor. One is the short career span that accelerates dramatic lifestyle transitions. The other is pain.

"These people have a high level of muscular-skeleton injury disability and pain and dysfunction--the whole group, across the board," Schwenk said. "Some are coping better than others. Pain is a huge issue. This is a remarkable group of people who go from one day being an elite athlete to the next day literally disabled."

Kilcullen, who played on the 1963 Bears' title team, coped by becoming an artist whose work has received critical acclaim. Schwenk said Kilcullen's art will be displayed at the Depression Center.

Said Kilcullen: "I think sometimes it's in the personality of guys who play the game. It's overachievement. I was driven from very early on, and I didn't know why. My hands used to shake in college when I was in art class, and that's not good. I went to psychiatrists to see what was wrong with me, and none could really tell me. I couldn't sleep."

Schwenk said the survey elicited an unusual flood of responses.

"Phone calls from wives [of] players, [saying], `This is so important. I'm glad you're doing this. How can I get help for my husband?'" Schwenk said.

"Then we got a few who said, `I've had a really good life, and I don't feel this is something that applies to me.' You get this real schism between this 20 percent group that is really miserable [with] a high level of dysfunction and the rest of the group that made a lot of money and moved on with life."

Three years ago, former quarterback Terry Bradshaw revealed he has been clinically depressed and was promoting the drug Paxil.

"I remember sitting there so many times in Pittsburgh, and you know what I was wishing?" Bradshaw said. "I was wishing for my career to hurry up and get over with so I could get out of Dodge."

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dpierson@tribune.com

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Kramer Auctions Ring to Help Ex-Players

By JOHN HARTZELL Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — Former Green Bay Packers star Jerry Kramer understands why some people would find it hard to believe there are needy retired NFL players.

With today's multimillion dollar salaries, many current players will never need help financially.

But Kramer, who played for Vince Lombardi's Packers from 1958 to 1968, said that's not the case for a number of those who played in his era.

Kramer, 70, who lives in Boise, Idaho, said he earned $8,000 in his first year in the league and got a $300 raise in the second year before his salary jumped to $9,000 annually when he was All-Pro in his third year. He eventually earned $27,000 to $28,000 a year before retiring.

Many players from his era began drawing pensions at age 45, he said, only to see them drop dramatically when they turned 62 and could start drawing Social Security. And a number are without private medical insurance, he said.

With that in mind, he put up for auction this week a replica of his ring from the first Super Bowl to raise money to help older former players. He had the ring made after the original disappeared 25 years ago _ only to resurface recently on an Internet auction.

"I have always felt great concern and frustration regarding the condition of some of the retired players who helped build the league," Kramer said when he announced he was putting the ring up for auction.

After the auction closed Friday night, Kramer said the final bid was $22,634, and the ring goes to a Green Bay man whose name wasn't immediately released.

"I'm pretty pleased with everything. It's been an amazing series of events for me, from the ring returning," he said.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said last week that those who played prior to 1959 were not originally in the NFL pension plan, although they were added years ago. The league spends $5 million a month on retirement and disability benefits for more than 2,500 players, he said.

Kramer said his pension dropped from $454 a month to $158 when he turned 62. He said the NFL also adds $200 per month for the single year he played prior to 1959.

Kramer's original Super Bowl ring disappeared in 1981 when he removed it to wash his hands on an airline flight.

The ring showed up last month in an auction on the Web site of Mastro Auctions Inc. of Burr Ridge, Ill. Kramer contacted Mastro after a former teammate's son told him about it. Mastro president Doug Allen then pulled the ring from auction.

Allen said he bought the ring from the person who had put it up for auction through his business, and turned it over to Kramer at no cost to the former player.

Kramer worked with Allen on the auctioning of the replica and said he intends to work with him to put together a much larger auction of NFL memorabilia later this year or early next year to raise more money for retired players.

Larger auctions like that could become an annual event, he said.

Kramer said a charitable trust will be created to hand out the money raised to needy players.

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The Long Road Back: Many Skill Players Never Recover from Serious Injuries

SI.com
Thursday May 25, 2006

Jamal Anderson was only 26 when he blew out his knee. In 1998, he established himself as one of the top running backs in the NFL, leading the league with 1,846 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns and 12 100-yard games as the Falcons reached the Super Bowl.

In the third week of the following season, during the opening drive of a game at Arizona, Anderson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and missed the rest of the season. He played one more full year, but his rushing total dropped 45 percent (1,846 yards to 1,024), his touchdowns dropped 57 percent (14 to six) and his rushing average fell 20 percent (4.5 to 3.6).

Two weeks into the next season, he suffered another ACL injury at Dallas, this time to his right knee.

He never played again.

He was 28 years old.

For all the advances in surgery that have been made, all the groundbreaking techniques in rehab, all the state-of-the-art medical facilities NFL teams now have, there are some injuries that simply end careers, or dramatically alter them.

Across NFL training camps this summer, we'll hear how players such as Carson Palmer, Daunte Culpepper, Braylon Edwards, Drew Brees, DeuceMcAllister, Priest Holmes, Javon Walker and Donovan McNabb are progressing after suffering serious injuries in 2005. We'll hear how optimistic their coaches are, how well their rehab is coming, how encouraged their teammates are.

But if history is any indication, several of them -- maybe most of them -- will never be the same.

We took a look at starting quarterbacks, running backs and receivers who suffered major injuries over the past 10 years and examined their production before and after their injuries to see what long-term affect those injuries had on their careers. Here's what we learned.

Quarterbacks

The Good News: Drew Bledsoe

Before the Injury: Averaged 21 TD passes and 3,657 yards per year

The Injury: Missed most of 2001 with bruised sternum and severe internal bleeding

After the Injury: Averaged 20 TD passes and 3,448 yards per year

The Bad News: Kurt Warner

Before the Injury: Was 40-13 with an NFL-record 103.4 passer rating

The Injury: Broke right pinkie early in 2002 season

After the Injury: Is 8-17 with an 82.0 passer since

From 1995 through 2004, 11 quarterbacks fit into our statistical model -- they played a full season one year, suffered an injury the next year serious enough to knock them out of at least 10 games, and returned to start the following year (Drew Bledsoe, Mark Brunell, Rich Gannon, Jeff George, Trent Green, Brad Johnson, Erik Kramer, Vinny Testaverde, Neil O'Donnell, Michael Vick and Kurt Warner).

Of those 11, only one performed at a significantly higher level after the injury. That was Bledsoe, who got hurt the second week of the 2001 season with the Patriots (opening the door for Tom Brady) and put up far better stats in 2002 with the Bills (24 TDs, 86.0 passer rating) than he had in 2000 with New England (17 TDs, 77.3 passer rating).

Some were never the same again.

Gannon got hurt in 2003 with the Raiders, tried to come back in 2004, got hurt again and retired. Warner put together some of the greatest numbers in NFL history, averaging 33 TD passes and 17 interceptions from 1999 through 2001. Since breaking a finger early in 2002, though, Warner has 21 TDs and 25 interceptions in four seasons with three teams.

Going into 1999, Testaverde was coming off his best season -- 29 TDs, just seven interceptions and a 101.6 passer rating -- 20th-highest in NFL history. But he ruptured his Achilles' in the season-opener and never came close to those 1999 numbers again, finishing out his career with 64 more TDs and 70 interceptions in parts of six seasons with three teams.

Most simply picked up where they left off -- George, Johnson, Vick and others posted numbers similar to those they had amassed before their injuries.

Running Backs

The Good News: Fred Taylor

Before the Injury: Averaged 1,118 yards in first three seasons

The Injury: Adductor tendon detached from bone second week of 2001

After the Injury: Averaged 1,370 yards per season in next three seasons

The Bad News: Terrell Davis

Before the Injury: Averaged 1,603 yards and 14 TDs per year and 4.8 per carry

The Injury: Tore a knee ligament in the fourth game of 1999

After the Injury: Averaged 398 yards, 1.3 TDs and 3.8 per carry

Some advice to running backs: Don't get hurt.

Since 1995, 16 running backs who were established starters have suffered an injury that cost them 10 games or more.

Only three of them -- DeShaun Foster, James Stewart and Fred Taylor -- registered a career-best rushing season at any point in the rest of their careers.

Those 16 backs had 35 1,000-yard seasons before their injuries and eight after, three of them by Taylor and two by Stewart.

It appears that injuries affect running backs later in their career more than receivers or quarterbacks. Many don't even approach their pre-injury numbers.

For example, Mike Alstott averaged 658 yards per year and 3.9 yards per carry before missing the last 11 games of 2003. In two seasons since, he's averaged 155 and 3.1.

Stephen Davis averaged 1,283 yards and 4.3 per carry from 1999 through 2003. After suffering a season-ending injury early in 2004, he came back with 549 yards and a 3.0 per-carry average last year.

In his first four NFL seasons, Terrell Davis averaged more than 1,600 yards a year and 4.8 yards per carry. After he got hurt in 1999, he averaged 398 and 3.8 and was out of football before his 30th birthday.

Olandis Gary ran for 1,159 yards as a rookie, got hurt one game into his second season and has averaged 280 yards per season since.

Dorsey Levens rushed for 1,435 yards in 1997, missed 10 games in '98, then averaged 407 yards for the rest of his career.

Duce Staley rushed for nearly 1,300 yards in 1999. He got hurt in 2000 and has averaged 570 yards since.

Michael Bennett ran for just under 1,300 yards in 2002, got hurt in '03 and has fewer than 800 yards total since.

Taylor is the most remarkable exception. He had a couple of 1,200-yard seasons before missing almost all of 2001. His first three seasons after coming back, he ran for 1,314, 1,572 and 1,224 yards.

Then there's Garrison Hearst, who proved that anybody can come back from anything. Hearst had three 1,000-yard seasons before knee injuries kept him out of football for 32 months. His first year back, he ran for more than 1,200 yards.

Wide Receivers

The Good News: Steve Smith

Before the Injury: Caught 88 passes for 1,110 yards and seven TDs in 2003

The Injury: Broke his fibula on opening day in 2004

After the Injury: Caught 103 passes for 1,563 yards and 12 TDs last year

The Bad News: Herman Moore

Before the Injury: Averaged 1,190 yards and 86 catches from 1992 through 1998

The Injury: Suffered knee injury while leaping for pass in end zone early in 1999

After the Injury: Caught 60 passes for 707 yards in parts of final three seasons

Unlike running backs, receivers seem to have a decent chance of not only matching their pre-injury performance but also surpassing it.

Of the nine 1,000-yard receivers from 1995 through 2004 who suffered a major season-ending injury, only three never had another 1,000-yard season. They are Ed McCaffrey, who was 34 when he returned after a broken leg (and did have a 903-yard season); Herman Moore, who never approached his All-Pro numbers after his 1999 knee injury; and Marcus Robinson, whose pre-injury and post-injury stats were pretty similar.

The rest? Seems like their injuries made them even better.

Steve Smith caught 103 passes for 1,563 yards last season, a year after missing virtually all of '04 with a broken fibula. Before the injury he'd never had more than 1,110 yards in a season.

Yancey Thigpen missed all but a few snaps of 1996 with a severe foot injury. A year later he had career highs with 1,398 yards and seven TDs.

Isaac Bruce missed most of 1998 after blowing out his hamstring. Over the next six years he missed one game and averaged 78 catches for 1,181 yards.

Jerry Rice was already 35 when he shredded his knee the second week of 1997. All he did when he came back was average 77 catches for 1,001 yards in the next six years.

Kevin Dyson blew out his knee in 2000 and a year later had career highs with 825 yards and seven TDs.

Find this article at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/reuben_frank/05/24/injury.numbers/index.html

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