Curse of Bretsky Strikes Again

[pbmax]

from PFT:

POSTED 8:43 p.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 9:20 p.m. EDT, June 4, 2007

MEACHAM NEEDS KNEE SURGERY

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that receiver Robert Meacham, the Saints' first-round selection in the 2007 draft, will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday, and will thereafter be out of action for four weeks.

It's a cartilage problem in Meacham's right knee; he had similar issues at Tennessee, but nothing that caused him to miss extensive action. Still, it's not a good sign for the former Volunteer, since each human knee has a finite amount of cartilage, and it doesn't grow back. Once it's gone, the player will be dealing with bone-on-bone contact. The choices? Play in excruciating pain, retire, or undergo microfracture surgery, a relatively new procedure that has had mixed results.

It's not a good sign for a team that used a first-round pick on a position at which, in 2006, they got the steal of the draft when nabbing Marques Colston in round seven.

[pbmax]

from withleather.com

http://www.withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=3032

06.04.2007 ODELL THURMAN IN TROUBLE AGAIN? (UPDATE) It's not too often you can read sports news here at With Leather before major media outlets, but a handsome anonymous tipster has reported to me that Odell Thurman, the Bengals' embattled linebacker, has once again run afoul of the law.

According to the tipster, Thurman attended a house party in his hometown of Monticello, Georgia Saturday night. At around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, he was grinding on another partygoer's girlfriend, which upset the partygoer in question. Said partygoer asked Thurman to stop, then returned his attention to a game of pool. The rest of the story, according to the email I received:

Big mistake. Thurman ran up to the guy, pushed him down, and kicked the shit out of his face knocking the guy out. He then left, and moments later came back with his entourage carrying guns. Some of the people there were able to calm him down, and get him to leave for good.

The Monticelloo Police Department couldn't provide me with any details, and I got voicemail when I called the county courthouse. But you can expect to see charges filed against Thurman by the end of the day, and Len Pasquarelli will probably have the full story sometime later this afternoon. You know, if this is all true.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the host of the party. Although he was upstairs when the fight began, he corroborated the story above. And to be fair to Thurman, it appears that he returned with guns and friends with guns only after people at the party pulled guns on him.

SECOND UPDATE: A tipster sent along the picture below, which is supposedly of the victim's cut lip, courtesy Odell's foot. I've also received word that Thurman tried to buy his victim's silence. And just for fun: it was on Friday that Thurman got sentenced to six days in rehab with two years probation for his DUI conviction.

[Bretsky]

OUCH

I hope that doesn't mean AJ Hawk is going down the tubes; that's a pretty extreme curse he's trying to buck

Maybe I was the reason AL TOON had an injury plagued career

[pbmax]

Just giving a little guff there Bretsky. As I said on the other Meachem/Saints thread, I don't even venture to give college player projections as I have learned that I know very little. So I don't have the same exposure to possibly being wrong as you.

Webster Slaughter and I think Jarrod Bunch (possibly Leroy Hoard as well) taught me that.

Kudos to you for sharing you thoughts and double kudos for Hawk.

As for Toon, unless you played safety in the 80's OR were Ken O'Brien's QB coach, I can't hold you accountable for the concussions

OUCH

I hope that doesn't mean AJ Hawk is going down the tubes; that's a pretty extreme curse he's trying to buck

Maybe I was the reason AL TOON had an injury plagued career

[Bretsky]

Just giving a little guff there Bretsky. As I said on the other Meachem/Saints thread, I don't even venture to give college player projections as I have learned that I know very little. So I don't have the same exposure to possibly being wrong as you.

Webster Slaughter and I think Jarrod Bunch (possibly Leroy Hoard as well) taught me that.

Kudos to you for sharing you thoughts and double kudos for Hawk.

As for Toon, unless you played safety in the 80's OR were Ken O'Brien's QB coach, I can't hold you accountable for the concussions

OUCH

I hope that doesn't mean AJ Hawk is going down the tubes; that's a pretty extreme curse he's trying to buck

Maybe I was the reason AL TOON had an injury plagued career

No problem; I can take it as well as I can give it. And while I'm often wrong, I always have a view. Here's to hoping I'm as wrong on Ted Thompson as it looks like I was on Odell

[Tarlam!]

This is a truly epic discovery. I had no idea Bretsky is personally responsible for the demise of promising young football talent.

I can only suspect he was more in love with Vernon Davis when we took Hawk....

[Rastak]

This is a truly epic discovery. I had no idea Bretsky is personally responsible for the demise of promising young football talent.

I can only suspect he was more in love with Vernon Davis when we took Hawk....

Good thing too, eh Tar!

[wist43]

We, as fans/draftniks, can do due diligence in evaluating college prospects, but we can't talk to the kid, we can't look him in the eye, and we can't talk to his HS coach, his college coaches, or his family in an effort to find out what kind of person he is.

Even if the above story isn't true, it is true that Thurman is a knob... still, if he were able to alay my fears re his character during the interview process, then I still would have pulled the trigger on him in the 1st round in '05.

One thing is for sure, I never would have drafted Rodgers.

[Fritz]

I kind of like it...the Curse of Bretsky. With Meachem going down, it adds to Bretsky's legend.

In order to really make this thing take off, however, we must bury the fact that Bretsky liked Chambers over Fergie and that tall Wisconsin corner over Terrell Buckley.

[wist43]

I would have preferred Meachem myself... assuming he's healthy.

That apparently isn't the case...

TT said he was considering Meachem at 16, so the medical staff must have passed the knee.

[HarveyWallbangers]

TT said he was considering Meachem at 16, so the medical staff must have passed the knee.

I didn't see where Thompson said this. Do you have the source? A GM is always going to say that they considered a guy they didn't draft that went later if he's asked about that player . No need to anger the player in any way. With the need at WR, I'd have to think he would have taken Meachem if he liked him that much. You can't assume he liked that player based on a post-draft comment like that.

[Creepy]

Unless something breaks tonight, I think the story is a bust. It is now Tueday afternoon and if all this happened on Monday at 3am, it would be all over the sports news. Neither NFL.com or ESPN.com have anything about it. Nobody else seems to have any new on it either.

If it isn't released by tomorrow morning, then it never happened.

[HarveyWallbangers]

http://fantasysports.yahoo.com/analysis/news?slug=kffl-meachemundergoingsur&prov=kffl&type=lgns&league=fantasy

Adam Schefter, of the NFL Network, reports the New Orleans Saints wide receiver Robert Meachem (knee) will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair torn knee cartilage that was discovered during a recent magnetic resonance imaging test. Meachem is scheduled to have the surgery Tuesday, June 5, and is expected to miss up to four weeks of action.

[pbmax]

I think Creepy is referring to the Odell Thurman story, second post in the topic.

I'm going to look around now.

[pbmax]

same site with an update:
http://www.withleather.com/index.phtml

06.05.2007 ODELL THURMAN'S HEARING IS FRIDAY I just got off the phone with Ken Jackson, the Chief Magistrate of Jasper County, Georgia. And he confirmed that Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman has a hearing set for late Friday morning that will address the fracas that occurred in Monticello early Sunday morning, with the alleged face-kicking and gun-pulling and what have you.

Sooooo... uh, anybody in the mainstream media want to cover this? I've heard whisperings that ESPN's Len Pasquarelli can't move forward with the story until the hearing actually happens, but since I'm not a journalist (hello, obviously), I don't know how this whole thing works. I also contacted Mark Curnutte, the Bengals beat reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, but I've yet to hear back from him.

Oh, and the kind people at Pro Football Talk have confirmed the report, as well. Nice work, guys. (And to think, I spent all night working on that retraction, only to be RIGHT ALL ALONG.)

UPDATE: More from WLWT (via FanHaus), which reports that police have little evidence, making it a "he said, she said" situation. The hearing will determine if charges are filed.