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"You Tore Your ACL!" Words an Athlete Dreads to Hear
by Douglas Green
Jeff Ball
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Knee injuries can be a painful and stressful. Just ask Jeff Ball, who recently joined the list of Mars Hill athletes who have torn an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and gone through the surgery to fix it.
"It hurts, but I thought it was going to hurt more than this, plus I knew people who have had this same injury, and they are fine now," he said.
Ball's teammate Ricky Spradling, who is the starting quarterback for the Lions, tore his ACL in the spring of 2007. Spradling underwent surgery and the rehab that goes along with it. He returned to the gridiron last fall with a knee that was strong and ready to win.
Ball started playing football in Youth League. The people closest to him saw that this kid had talent and was going to be a good team player. In high school he made the varsity squad when he was a sophomore. He played every game, even when he broke his finger and was supposed to sit out a couple of games. "I was in pain but I had to play. My teammates were counting on me."
The twist that brings the ACL into play
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Coach Tim Clifton recruited him to play strong safety at Mars Hill College. Playing college football was a dream that came true for Jeff. He set off for fall camp,
Team members were playing one on one. He was guarding the receiver. When he turned to run, the receiver's knee hit his, and Jeff knew something was wrong. "I felt something pop."
He went to the Mars Hill College football trainers. They felt around and told him something was wrong with his knee and told him to go see a doctor for an MRI scan. Ball went about a month later and found out he had torn his ACL, which runs diagonally through the knee joint and gives it the strength to withstand twisting. He would need surgery.
There are two types of ACL surgery. The first and most common is reconstruction. This is where the doctors take a piece of tendon out of the knee or the hamstring to replace the torn ligament.
The other type of surgery is repair. This is where the doctors sew the ligament back together.
The scar where a strip of tendon was harvested from Ball's kneecap
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Eighty to ninety percent of people who have ACL surgery have favorable results. Physical Rehabilitation after surgery may take several months, but you're only out of normal activities for six to twelve weeks.
Ball had reconstruction surgery, and it went well for him. "I'm just glad it's over with."
Now he has to look forward to all the therapy he will have to go through to get his knee back in shape. He has to go every day and ride on the stationary bike and do leg curls and leg extensions. The therapy usually only lasts a couple of hours, but it is an intense workout for Ball.
"It sucks, but I know I have to do it to get better, and if I listen to the trainers, this injury should not slow me down," he said.
Ball looks forward to hitting the gridiron next year, hitting, running, and cutting on the knee that he hurt.
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