REALITY BITES; Consensus...Dear Nick Collinins..PLZ RETIRE

[KYPack]

I think I like the Colonel with sunglasses.

(colonel, by the way, is the word that killed my chances at spelling bee glory in fifth grade)

Yeah, you out-cooled me with those shades.

"Colonel" seems like it needs an 'R' in there. That's one of those words that you realize you fucked up, but you just keep spelling it out anyhow, 'til it's time to siddown.

[Lurker64]

The worry now would be stenosis, which could develop after surgery/trauma in response to inflammation or scar tissue (I think), strength, and his recovery of a full range of motion.

That's pretty much it, a narrowing of the spinal column puts you at increased risk of catastrophic spinal injury resulting in paralysis or death. That's bad. If there's any significant evidence of stenosis, Collins pretty much has to shut it down and the doctors will tell him as such.

Things like "regaining strength" are just an issue of "it will happen eventually when the nerves heal". There's the possibility that they won't, but then it will be an issue of "he can't play because he's not good enough anymore" rather than an issue of "he can't play because he's risking catastrophic injury" and that's less of a tragedy.

The benefit of having the disc fusion is that while he will give up a little bit in terms of neck flexibility, it will be virtually impossible for him to incur the same injury again, an identically delivered blow would have to be enough to actually break the bones in his neck in order to injure him. Which is why I say that if there's no stenosis, and once the nerves heal and he regains his strength, he's actually better protected against that specific injury than any other player on the roster.

[MadScientist]

The benefit of having the disc fusion is that while he will give up a little bit in terms of neck flexibility, it will be virtually impossible for him to incur the same injury again, an identically delivered blow would have to be enough to actually break the bones in his neck in order to injure him. Which is why I say that if there's no stenosis, and once the nerves heal and he regains his strength, he's actually better protected against that specific injury than any other player on the roster.

I have to wonder about that. Yes, if he has the exact same hit, he would not injure the same vertebral joint, but what about the ones directly above and below it. There is less total compressibility, and any bending motion will have a longer lever. For any normal activity he'll be fine, but football is not a normal activity.

[woodbuck27]

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120402/PKR01/120402192/No-word-from-Green-Bay-Packers-safety-Nick-Collins-camp-on-results-of-medical-exam?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

No word from Collins camp on medical results

9:18 AM, Apr. 3, 2012

[woodbuck27]

http://blogs.greenbaypressgazette.com/blogs/gpg/insider/2012/04/03/report-collins-to-meet-with-packers-next-week/

Report: Nick Collins to meet with Packers (NEXT WEEK) Updated.

10:58 AM, Apr. 3, 2012

Mike McCarthy last week, “If Nick was my son, I would not let him play.”