Is there a chance my son will ever be able to play football again at the level of division 1?

My son blew out his knee on Thursday night in football practice. He is at a division 1 school of National Champion caliber. My son is a sophmore (3 years left).

He has had an awesome year, all the coaches have been really excited with his gains. He is a huge child and plays Offensive line. He is 6' 6" 300lbs. He is in excellent condition and his accident was freakish! He wiped out his ACL.MCL and tore his lateral meniscus. He will have reconstruction once the initial swelling recedes( 2-6 weeks).

The MD is not sure he would be ready for spring ball. The coaches are all positive. My question is do we even risk sticking him out there again? He is a kid with big dense bones. During recruiting , the trainer at Nebraska said he had the biggest knee on the team even as a 17 yr old. Does this make the surgery even more difficult to perform because of the amount of force on a heavy person?

For some reason, the coaches and the MD don't seem to be saying the same thing!

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Is there a chance my son will ever be able to play football again at the level of division 1?

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Aug 13, 2008
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Spring may be too fast...
by: Bart - SII

Sorry to hear about your son's injury. It is frustrating when you work so hard during the offseason, do well and have high expectations, and then in a flash the season is over.

I would probably agree with the doctor with regards to playing spring ball - he may be ready, but more likely it will be for drills and light activity rather than full contact.

An ACL reconstruction in a big athlete like your son isn't too much of a concern - I have seen numerous athletes of comparable size and playing position who do well with ACL reconstructions - he will start out slower, simply because the size of the quads and lower extremity require a lot more strength to just lift the leg and move around than in someone my size (5'6", 140lbs). Once he gets through the first couple months, he should do well.

Is it worth the risk? As long as he gets all of his strength back, works hard through rehab, and doesn't go back too soon, he should do fine. You can't guarantee no new injury, but if he follows all of the training staff's instructions and works hard, he should do well.

Bart

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