Okay, so it’s not exactly objective to refer to an injury as, “gross,” but I’ll bet I can bring you over to my side in three paragraphs… starting now.
In yesterday’s game, Tennessee DB Michael Griffin dislocated his left shoulder, and then somehow returned to the game. As I’ve ranted about before, sometimes media reports on injuries are lacking in what I feel to be important details. In this case, I was delighted to see that John Glennon at The Tennessean totally nailed it. Glennon got right to the meat of the matter and connected the fact that Griffin’s recent dislocation was to the same left shoulder he had previously injured and had surgery on before the 2010 season.
Oh, but this is no typical injury history. Here’s where it gets gruesome. Here’s Rotoworld’s summary blurb of Griffin’s 2010 surgery:
Titans FS Michael Griffin’s shoulder, surgically repaired in January, was far worse than anyone believed during his disappointing 2009 season. The procedure repaired Griffin’s labrum, requiring 11 anchors ‘almost completely encircling the shoulder.’
The prosecution rests. That is totally gross right? It makes me a little bit queasy to imagine that hardware just sitting all up in his shoulder. But then to imagine that same hardware and how it might’ve reacted during a subsequent dislocation… fuhgettaboudit. Clearly, I am no doctor, but his shoulder must be basically ground chuck now, right? I have no knowledge of Griffin’s surgery, but shoulder stabilization anchors tend to be metal and are not removed later. Yes, there are some that can be made of other materials so that they dissolve over time, but those don’t tend to be the norm. I’m sure a doctor would tell me that this is ridiculous, but I can’t get over the image of a few lucky fans taking home some souvenir hardware after it all exploded out of his shoulder like a confetti cannon. Here’s to wishing Griffin a speedy recovery, if that’s even possible. Just between us girls, were I in Griffin’s shoes, they’d still be trying to wake me up on the sideline by waving smelling salts under my nose and slapping my cheeks.
