Nick Collins preparing for comeback

[call_me_ishmael]

Nick Collins has tweeted out that he's "ready for action" and "is ready to dominate". I wonder if he's finally healthy enough for a team to give him a shot.

Would LOVE to see him back in Green Bay. Would immediately clear up our safety woes and be affordable.

[denverYooper]

There is a photo floating around of him hanging out with Tramon and James Jones in the Bahamas. He looks ripped.

[QBME]

Anybody know his contract status - i.e. do we have any rights to him?

[Patler]

I'm not sure what about his condition could have improved so that GB (or any team) would clear him to play now when they did not before.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Anybody know his contract status - i.e. do we have any rights to him?

No we cut him and no team signed him. He's free to sign with anyone. I WOULD LOVE HIM BACK ON THE TEAM. Would make the offseason for me.

[Patler]

Anybody know his contract status - i.e. do we have any rights to him?

I believe the Packers released him, making him a free agent.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfbJ39nIMAAViVW.jpg:large

[red]

we need nick collins

leroy butler spilled the beans about a month ago that nick was in shape and wanted to come back

i think the packers need to do some more reserch and take a look at the risks of collins playing vs a healthy guy like finley (at the time of his neck injury)

neck injuries can happen to any player at any time

[KYPack]

C'mon back, Nick at Nite!

We will take you back on one leg.

Nick was such a force when he sustained that freak ass injury.

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

Hmm, maybe I will pick him in my free agent signing contest?

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Would be funny if Williams finally heals from his injury at the same time Collins returns to football.

[Harlan Huckleby]

"ready for action"?

Sounds like he is bored with his marriage. I can't see how he returns to football after all these years - what has changed?

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

"ready for action"?

Sounds like he is bored with his marriage. I can't see how he returns to football after all these years - what has changed?

A lot of neck stretches

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/243530151.html

[mraynrand]

There is a photo floating around of him hanging out with Tramon and James Jones in the Bahamas. He looks ripped.

probably all that rum

[pbmax]

OK, have to get this written down. Collins injury was a C3-C4 fusion.


With the fusion surgery, the disk was removed and replaced with a bone graft from his hip. A titanium plate is then screwed into the two vertebrae --- in this case the C-3 and C-4 --- to hold them together.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/243530151.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[Bossman641]

I would LOVE to have Nick Collins back. One of my favorite Packers ever. Seeing the transition from a small school guy to a guy who had the skills but couldn't put it together to one of the top 3 safeties in the league was amazing. Sadly I don't see it happening.

[mraynrand]

I support the backing of the Neck Collins return. I'm con-fused why he's been out so long, but what he's saying strikes all the right cords. I think all the hits he would take at safety would truly test his metal.

[pittstang5]

And so was Finley's; a C3-C4 fusion...correct? Both Players - no stenosis...correct? I swear I read somewhere that Finley's fusion was lower.

Not to get off topic, but why do some think Finely will be signed back while Collins wasn't. Very similar situations, Packers are very conservative in the injury department. IMO, Finley is long gone and won't even get an offer from the Packers.

Personally, I'd take Collins back in a heartbeat. He knows the risk and wants to play. I'd take Finley back too, but only at the right price.

[red]

OK, have to get this written down. Collins injury was a C3-C4 fusion.



http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/243530151.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

so it is the same as the finley injury, same area anyways

but with titanium plates and all, wouldn't his neck now be much stronger?

[red]

And so was Finley's; a C3-C4 fusion...correct? Both Players - no stenosis...correct? I swear I read somewhere that Finley's fusion was lower.

Not to get off topic, but why do some think Finely will be signed back while Collins wasn't. Very similar situations, Packers are very conservative in the injury department. IMO, Finley is long gone and won't even get an offer from the Packers.

Personally, I'd take Collins back in a heartbeat. He knows the risk and wants to play. I'd take Finley back too, but only at the right price.

yes, you thought finley's was lower because people keep incorrectly saying that collins injury was to the c2-c3

[pittstang5]

yes, you thought finley's was lower because people keep incorrectly saying that collins injury was to the c2-c3

Ah HA!!!!

[Teamcheez1]

What's it been now, two years? Don't you believe that, if at his talent level he could play again, there would have been several teams lining up to give him a chance?

I think he needs to move on with his life.

[red]

the packers being unwilling to clear players who have had the neck fusion comes from their reliance on the advice of one doctor in LA who says he won't clear anybody to play if the c-3 or higher is involved

however, there are many other doctors, including the guy who did finley's fusion that said its perfectly safe to return to playing after the c3-c4 fusion

so it comes down to he said vs he said

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

What's it been now, two years? Don't you believe that, if at his talent level he could play again, there would have been several teams lining up to give him a chance?

I think he needs to move on with his life.

It could just be him seeing Earl and Kam playing elite football and just missing the game. We are all human, it might just be emotion talking more than anything else. Its not like his career was cut short at 31-32. He was 27 and probably the best safety in football. He is probably still struggling with the fact that he will never play again. If he is cleared medically though, I want his comeback with the pack.

[pbmax]

It probably had a lot to do with listening to Jones and Tramon tell him about the team this year.

But I think Hot Tub Chmura told his radio show listeners that Finley was C4-C5. Did we find out it was 3-4?

[Rodgers12]

I believe the Packers released him, making him a free agent.

Wha!!!!

What happened to "Collins was a corporate asset...an executive's duty is to preserve and enhance corporate assets?"

Shaky said it best:

Fat pigs are all but stomachs, and we all but food.
To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,
They belch us.

[QBME]

It probably had a lot to do with listening to Jones and Tramon tell him about the team this year.

But I think Hot Tub Chmura told his radio show listeners that Finley was C4-C5. Did we find out it was 3-4?

According to ESPN Wisconsin, C3-C4

[MadScientist]

the packers being unwilling to clear players who have had the neck fusion comes from their reliance on the advice of one doctor in LA who says he won't clear anybody to play if the c-3 or higher is involved

however, there are many other doctors, including the guy who did finley's fusion that said its perfectly safe to return to playing after the c3-c4 fusion

so it comes down to he said vs he said

Have there been any other players with a 3-4 fusion who have returned to the league?

I'd hate to be a doctor who cleared a player or a GM who signed a player with a high vertebrate fusion who leaves the field never to walk again (or worse) because the fusion reduced the players ability to safely take a hit.

[Bossman641]

I thought that Collins and Finley had the same type of fusion done (C3-C4) but that Collins had stenosis while Finley did not.

[3irty1]

Here's a document exploring 15 cases of pro wrestlers and NFL players who got an anterior cervical disectomy and fusion (ACDF). http://w3.cns.org/dp/2012CNS/1207.pdf

Conclusions: A player can return to contact sports with a single fusion if there is a normal examination, full range of motion, and solid arthrodesis (aka a nice sturdy fusion). 4 had the injury in the same place as Nick Collins. 13 returned to play, 2 retired. Of the 13 that played, 1 quit due to discongenic pain in a disk adjacent to the fusion (a wrestler), 1 re-injured it and needed the operation again. The return to play duration was from 1 to 4 years. 14 had spinal stenosis.

[Bossman641]

Have there been any other players with a 3-4 fusion who have returned to the league?

I'd hate to be a doctor who cleared a player or a GM who signed a player with a high vertebrate fusion who leaves the field never to walk again (or worse) because the fusion reduced the players ability to safely take a hit.

There have been a few.

Keion Carpenter played 3 seasons at safety after fusion.

SF center Chris Dalman had surgery while still in college.

There was a Raven LB (*EDIT* Jameel McClain) who came back this year but I can't remember his name.

[Patler]

Wha!!!!

What happened to "Collins was a corporate asset...an executive's duty is to preserve and enhance corporate assets?"


His asset value was zero. No one would give anything for him. It's really pretty simple if you actually think about it instead of just trying to be disagreeable.

[Patler]

the packers being unwilling to clear players who have had the neck fusion comes from their reliance on the advice of one doctor in LA who says he won't clear anybody to play if the c-3 or higher is involved

however, there are many other doctors, including the guy who did finley's fusion that said its perfectly safe to return to playing after the c3-c4 fusion

so it comes down to he said vs he said

The why did no other team come looking for Collins? It doesn't seem it was just the Packers.

[call_me_ishmael]

It is an interesting idea that more healing and a stronger bone formed in the past 2-3 years. I'd be interested in having him examined by the Packers doctors, certainly.

What was Jarvis Jones' injury? I believe he had a similar fusion or something.

[3irty1]

Jones came into the league with stenosis for sure but no injury that ever required surgery. What sidelined him at USC was a stinger and a cautious medical staff.

[bobblehead]

we need nick collins

leroy butler spilled the beans about a month ago that nick was in shape and wanted to come back

i think the packers need to do some more reserch and take a look at the risks of collins playing vs a healthy guy like finley (at the time of his neck injury)

neck injuries can happen to any player at any time

If he is cleared to play and is going to play somewhere anyway, I see no moral problem with the packers putting him on the field. Ultimately the choice is his.

[bobblehead]

I'm not sure what about his condition could have improved so that GB (or any team) would clear him to play now when they did not before.

I am neither agreeing or disagreeing, but Peyton took about 18 months to heal after his fusion. I also do not know which vertebrae Manning had fused.

[mraynrand]

Wha!!!!

What happened to "Collins was a corporate asset...an executive's duty is to preserve and enhance corporate assets?"


Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset. Can he be signed?

http://blogs.evtrib.com/nerdvana/files/2008/11/sidious_holo.jpg

[Jimx29]

so it is the same as the finley injury, same area anyways

but with titanium plates and all, wouldn't his neck now be much stronger?
I had C4/C5 discectomy back in 2007 and was told that in an average recovery from a C4/C5 discectomy, one can expect that under normal instances that at the 10-12 year post-op that you could expect to have either the next upper or lower disc also removed and fused.
I can kinda understand how Manning could play after it since the QB is very seldom hit really hard, but as a safety or anywhere in the secondary the chance for a hard hit is greatly increased, and i don't know how any doctor would clear him knowing where he'd play.

This is how it looks:
http://i58.tinypic.com/68gdms.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/sdgpyg.jpg
http://i59.tinypic.com/erwl10.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/5lrtjt.jpg

[pbmax]

I am neither agreeing or disagreeing, but Peyton took about 18 months to heal after his fusion. I also do not know which vertebrae Manning had fused.

He had three surgeries in 18/19 months. His last was in Sept 2011 and he played the following year.

[pbmax]

I had C4/C5 discectomy back in 2007 and was told that in an average recovery from a C4/C5 discectomy, one can expect that under normal instances that at the 10-12 year post-op that you could expect to have either the next upper or lower disc also removed and fused.
I can kinda understand how Manning could play after it since the QB is very seldom hit really hard, but as a safety or anywhere in the secondary the chance for a hard hit is greatly increased, and i don't know how any doctor would clear him knowing where he'd play.

This is how it looks:
[]

Wow. Suggest next time they use smaller screws.

I can now understand why Dr. Leonard McCoy was always so up in arms about 20th century medical procedures. That looks like something I constructed. :)

[red]

If he is cleared to play and is going to play somewhere anyway, I see no moral problem with the packers putting him on the field. Ultimately the choice is his.

if the guy is gonna play no matter what, would people rather have him playing for us or someone else, like maybe the bears

if he is playing for the bears, and he takes a massive hit and he never walks again, are we really going to be sitting here saying "whew, at least he wasn't playing for the packers when it happened"?

[red]

I am neither agreeing or disagreeing, but Peyton took about 18 months to heal after his fusion. I also do not know which vertebrae Manning had fused.

its amazing how hard it is to find out what player had what vertebrae fused. the time i can find c3 or c4 or c2 mentioned is with packer players. its almost like the packers are the only ones that care where it is in the neck, every other team and player just cares about it being "neck vertebrae fusion", it seems like for everyone else, the neck is the neck

[Guiness]

I had C4/C5 discectomy back in 2007

All I can say it sweet mother....

[red]

Wow. Suggest next time they use smaller screws.

I can now understand why Dr. Leonard McCoy was always so up in arms about 20th century medical procedures. That looks like something I constructed. :)

i know right

the first time i saw my x-ray with all the screws and hardware in there the only think i could thing of was "really, you couldn't put the screws in a little straighter"?

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

if the guy is gonna play no matter what, would people rather have him playing for us or someone else, like maybe the bears

if he is playing for the bears, and he takes a massive hit and he never walks again, are we really going to be sitting here saying "whew, at least he wasn't playing for the packers when it happened"?

Tough call, but if the price is right, why not. I just sorta wish the Packers would DO SOMETHING, its boring as hell out here in Packerland...

[Packers4Glory]

"ready for action"?

Sounds like he is bored with his marriage. I can't see how he returns to football after all these years - what has changed?
he's 30 not 35. no reason he couldn't play at a high level if cleared.

[mraynrand]

Wow. Suggest next time they use smaller screws.

I can now understand why Dr. Leonard McCoy was always so up in arms about 20th century medical procedures. That looks like something I constructed. :)

Add to that, Nick Collins was treated at the Hospital for Sound Sleep (as it's know in ortho trauma circles) so you may as well be using rebar and baling wire, for all their sophistication.

[bobblehead]

I had C4/C5 discectomy back in 2007 and was told that in an average recovery from a C4/C5 discectomy, one can expect that under normal instances that at the 10-12 year post-op that you could expect to have either the next upper or lower disc also removed and fused.
I can kinda understand how Manning could play after it since the QB is very seldom hit really hard, but as a safety or anywhere in the secondary the chance for a hard hit is greatly increased, and i don't know how any doctor would clear him knowing where he'd play.


Doctors don't clear guys on the likelihood of taking the hit, they clear them on the result of taking it. i.e. No doctor would say "one hit will paralyze you, but since you play a position where there is only a 1% chance of taking the hit, go ahead" To a doctor, either you are healthy enough to take the hit that might occur, or you are not.

[Pugger]

Would be funny if Williams finally heals from his injury at the same time Collins returns to football.

Williams seemed to be playing like his old self in the second half of this season so maybe he's completely healed now.

[smuggler]

I loved Nick as a player. He helped us to a Super Bowl. But it is not worth the risk. I don't want him to die on the field, for anyone. :C

[ThunderDan]

Lets say we sign Collins and he is everything we remember, but in week 14 he injures his neck and is done for the year and we have to put in a scrub who plays like our safeties in 2013.

Is that what you want? There is a big chance of getting injured in the NFL yet alone signing someone who is prone to getting a specific injury.

[Bossman641]

Collins' agent said there's been no change in his status from his doctors. Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

[denverYooper]

Collins' agent said there's been no change in his status from his doctors. Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

This.

Tramon was probably talking about how crappy their safeties not named Nick Collins have been and how great they would be with him in the lineup.

[Guiness]

Collins' agent said there's been no change in his status from his doctors. Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

That's pretty interesting. I wonder if there's any fire behind this smoke at all? Or if Collins will go home, think better of it and we'll here no more.

[smuggler]

His free agent appeal is the same as it was when we cut him.

[MadScientist]

Collins' agent said there's been no change in his status from his doctors. Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

If his agent (who has a vested interest in seeing Nick play) says there's been no change in status from his doctors, and that status has kept 32 teams from signing a former all-pro safety, then Nick is done.

[mraynrand]

Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

It's not nearly cold enough for a flaming rum punch. Go with the mulled wine.

http://p-ec2.pixstatic.com/5069c509fb04d60a6b0003d9._w.250_h.178_s.fit_.jpg

[red]

That's pretty interesting. I wonder if there's any fire behind this smoke at all? Or if Collins will go home, think better of it and we'll here no more.

well, like i said earlier, leroy mentioned about a month ago that nick was working on a comeback, so i doubt its just a random drunken rant

and if nicks DR didn't clear im, then he needs to go get another opinior, because finley's doc says he can absolutely play again, and they both had the exact same operation

[KYPack]

Collins' agent said there's been no change in his status from his doctors. Me thinks that Nick, Tramon, and JJ had a few too many rum punches and a few tweets got sent out.

Boss has broke the code. I've been around when there are current players and a retired player drinkin'. At some point, the conversation turns to their old buddy still playing with 'em and guess what, the old boy agrees.

Go ahead, Nick. You've earned a few fantasies. But I really doubt anything is gonna happen.

[QBME]

Nick says he's serious - just posted on ESPN site:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10409567/former-green-bay-packers-safety-nick-collins-eyes-nfl-comeback

[mraynrand]

well, like i said earlier, leroy mentioned about a month ago that nick was working on a comeback, so i doubt its just a random drunken rant

and if nicks DR didn't clear im, then he needs to go get another opinior, because finley's doc says he can absolutely play again, and they both had the exact same operation

'ole st. Nicky may have had stenosis; they also put some metal and a graft in there to shore up the damage. Finley seemed to have a much less extensive repair, but I wasn't in the OR, so I guess we wait and see what the various teams' docs have to say.

[bobblehead]

Boss has broke the code. I've been around when there are current players and a retired player drinkin'. At some point, the conversation turns to their old buddy still playing with 'em and guess what, the old boy agrees.

Go ahead, Nick. You've earned a few fantasies. But I really doubt anything is gonna happen.

I tend to remember that I have 2 years of college eligibility left every time I get drunk.

[bobblehead]

Nick says he's serious - just posted on ESPN site:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10409567/former-green-bay-packers-safety-nick-collins-eyes-nfl-comeback

It seems the buzz hasn't worn off yet.

[Smeefers]

Edit: nm. Patler beat me to it

[pittstang5]

The more I hear or read about Nick Collins wanting to come back, the more irritated I get, cause I know it's not going to happen. Damn, losing him really, really sucked.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

The more I hear or read about Nick Collins wanting to come back, the more irritated I get, cause I know it's not going to happen. Damn, losing him really, really sucked.

+1

[KYPack]

+1000

[Fritz]

Probably the biggest issue in the defense's fall these past few years.

That and all the other injuries, plus TT using a draft-and-develop system that allows absolutely no room for either the injuries OR for drafting guys for key positions that don't pan out...

[mraynrand]

Probably the biggest issue in the defense's fall these past few years.

That and all the other injuries, plus TT using a draft-and-develop system that allows absolutely no room for either the injuries OR for drafting guys for key positions that don't pan out...

yeah but Fritz, you pay a FA to come in and he fails, it's a double the killer of a failed (non-first round) draft pick, because you're out the money too.

[Fritz]

That's true. It's mostly due the the structure of the game today and the flat sal cap, but for those reasons, GM's have little room to fail - unless you're the Lions' GM.