It’s very hard to criticize Shawne Merriman’s passion to play football. After five separate medical opinions, all unanimously recommending immediate reconstructive surgery to repair torn LCL and PCL ligament damage in his left knee, he still went out and played in the San Diego Chargers season opener. Merriman was a non-factor with just two tackles against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday. He had no explosiveness off the line of scrimmage and was unable to apply pressure on the quarterback.
Clearly, his knee was hampering him. Merriman then decided to forego the rest of the season, have the surgery and start preparing for the 2009 season. I had a similar knee injury, and I think he made the best decision for long term success both on and off the field.
In describing his knee injury, the term “career-threatening” was floated by various media outlets. If he continued playing with the injury, he risked having early onset of arthritis settling inside the knee. The stress of playing football with ligament damage puts undue pressure on the cartilage in the front of the knee. The three most feared words any athlete can hear are “severe cartilage damage.”
Cartilage damage cannot be rebuilt the way ligament injuries can, and they’re very hard to recover from. Once all the cartilage has been chipped away, it cannot be restored, and the knee is left in an arthritic state.
His effectiveness on the field and the longevity of his career do remain in question, but the consensus is that having the surgery gives Merriman the best chance to return to Pro Bowl status once again.
Merriman’s contract expires after the 2009 season, and before the injury became public, he was expected to receive a huge new contract as an unrestricted free agent. That is up in the air now, but do not rule out Merriman turning the lights out on quarterbacks again next season.
