Torry Holt: Knee May Never Heal Properly, Fantasy Impact
There was a disturbing story by Bill Coats in the St. Louis Post Dispatch today on the status of Torry Holt’s surgically repaired cartilage in his right knee. The cartilage/joint simply hasn’t healed properly, and Holt continues to have issues with pain and swelling almost seven months after the surgery. He estimated that the knee is only 70-80% recovered as of Tuesday, 8/28, a week and a half before the beginning of regular season.
Holt commented at length about the injury: “It’s just one of those deals where I’m not recovering as quick as I used to. I have to get used to that and stay patient. … I don’t know if it’ll ever heal all the way, but I think it will heal enough where it will allow me to go out and play…”It feels good some days, and some days it doesn’t feel as good. I’m getting somewhat used to that and getting to the point where I can manage it pretty well.”
There is a lot to unpack in the statements Holt made, but here’s how I read what he said:
- Holt’s knee isn’t healed yet
- His knee probably won’t ever be 100% healthy again
- He is using pain management techniques to stay on the field
- The injury is flaring up unpredictably
I think the red flags all add up to a degenerative knee condition, folks. That means that eventually, chunks of torn cartilage and/or chips of bone from Holt’s knee joint will become what is termed “loose bodies”, and it is very likely that further surgery(ies) will have to be performed to keep the joint from locking up.
It was a similar set of circumstances that spelled the end of both Curtis Martin’s and Marshall Faulk’s careers (to name just 2 highly visible examples).
Does the above mean that Torry Holt’s NFL career is over? No, probably not. But it does mean that he’s a very risky proposition to play a full slate of games during 2007, and that he’s beginning to hit the down slope of his exemplary career.
Drafters Beware.
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