LeCharles Bentley

[loaf]

from Tony Grossi's blog on Cleveland.com

 

GM Phil Savage said that center LeCharles Bentley has opted not to have a third surgery on his knee at this time, but will reassess in three to four weeks. Savage said he considered it a positive sign the knee is healing, but he would not speculate on Bentley's chances of playing in 2007. Bentley has been rehabbing mostly in Arizona and Savage said he has not seen or talked with Bentley since February. Savage said he did not even know if Bentley has a copy of the team's new offensive playbook.

 

doesn't sound encouraging for '07

[broncosn05]

I remember hearing about this last year.

[loaf]

yeah, I was just posting the latest I could find to update folks here. There's a thread buried somewhere from earlier this year about him. just too lazy to find it.

[Big John]

yeah, I was just posting the latest I could find to update folks here. There's a thread buried somewhere from earlier this year about him. just too lazy to find it.

 

Here you go

[rajncajn]

Damn shame, Bentley could be HoF material if it weren't for this. I hope he makes a full recovery, but even if he does this injury has to knock a few years off the end of his career as well.

[rajncajn]

More from PFT

POSTED 4:46 p.m. EDT, June 5, 2007

 

BENTLEY OPTS AGAINST SURGERY, FOR NOW

 

Browns center LeCharles Bentley has decided not to undergo yet another surgery on a patellar tendon that popped last summer and thereafter hosted a staph infection.

 

The move is good news (sort of) for the Browns, since surgery would have knocked Bentley out for all of the 2007 season. The procedure tentatively had been set for this week.

 

"We've indicated since the fall this was a pivotal week," G.M. Phil Savage said. "I can report there's nothing scheduled for yesterday, today, or this week. He's opted at this point not to have another surgery and he's going to continue to rehab.

 

"Without reading too much into it, it's a positive sign there's a thought process that he's healing to a point where he can at least think about [returning to football]."

 

Still, surgery could ultimately become necessary. The team is expecting another update within the next three or four weeks.

[The Irish Doggy]

Where do they have Steinbach working on the line?

[loaf]

he's actually backing up Kevin Shaffer at LT which is prepostorous and won't last.

Ooops, I read that wrong. Here's the first team unit so far:

The first-team offensive line continued to be made up of Kevin Shaffer at left tackle, Eric Steinbach at left guard, Hank Fraley at center, Seth McKinney at right guard and Ryan Tucker at right tackle.

Edited June 11, 2007 by loaf

[piratesownninjas]

Yeah, that was such a fluke injury. I just hope he's able to play again.

[loaf]

Wow. Now it comes out that he's had 4 surgeries...

 

Bentley will try to come back this year

Told last fall his career was over, Browns center hopes to defy odds by returning to field Sunday, July 01, 2007Mary Kay CabotPlain Dealer Reporter

Despite being told he'd never play football again, Browns center and hometown favorite LeCharles Bentley said this week he'll try to make a comeback this season.

 

"I've been fortunate enough to have worked myself into a position to even think about playing football again," Bentley said in an exclusive interview with The Plain Dealer. "In spite of some major hurdles, I've been truly blessed all along the way to the point where I might possibly play this year."

 

Bentley, who will be in Berea for the first day of training camp July 27, revealed that he has undergone four surgeries over the past 11 months instead of the two that have been previously reported.

 

The first was to repair the torn left patella tendon suffered on the first day of contact drills last July. The next two were to clean out a life- and limb-threatening staph infection that penetrated the joint following the initial surgery. Those were each followed by a 30-day stay at the Cleveland Clinic. And the fourth operation, performed by Giants team physician Dr. Russell Warren in New York in November, was to clean out more staph and remove a portion of the tendon that was eaten away by the infection.

 

It was after that fourth surgery that Warren, one of the nation's most prominent orthopedic surgeons, told Bentley -- a two-time Pro Bowler with a lifelong dream to play for his hometown Browns -- that he'd never play football again.

 

"He told me to retire and he basically bet his license that I'd never play football again," said Bentley, who grew up in Cleveland and played at St. Ignatius and Ohio State.

 

Undaunted, Bentley, 27, rehabbed in Cleveland and then flew to Phoenix in January to focus entirely on his recovery.

 

"At that point, it was more just about living a normal life than playing football again," Bentley said. "I was trying to learn how to walk up the stairs again."

 

Bentley flew back and forth to New York to see Warren, who scheduled a fifth surgery for June 3. This time, Warren would most likely use a cadaver tendon to rebuild Bentley's ravaged patella.

 

But after an examination in May, Warren decided against the surgery.

 

"He told me my knee was sufficiently healed enough to live a normal life," said Bentley, who was the top-rated free agent when the Browns signed him in March of 2006. "He said, Go retire, go fishing, go live your life.' "

 

Football was not part of the discussion. But Warren got the wheels turning in Bentley's mind.

 

"If he's telling me I don't need surgery," Bentley said, "I started thinking, Maybe I can play again.' "

 

Bentley took his rehab to another level and began working out in Columbus, including some at Ohio State. "I started to feel like a football player again," he said.

 

When he told Warren about his progress in mid-June, the doctor deemed it remarkable. "He told me to call him in a couple of weeks and that if everything looked good, he'd pass me on my physical," Bentley said.

 

Bentley, who's rehabbing again in Phoenix, called Browns coach Romeo Crennel about a week ago and told him he'd be coming to camp and that he'd try to play this season.

 

"He said great and that he'd see me then," Bentley said.

 

Bentley said he'll most likely start camp by working out individually and then ease his way into position drills. "I don't anticipate any contact until at least three weeks into it," he said.

 

He said he'll take it one day at a time, but that his goal is to play in the opener Sept. 9 against Pittsburgh.

 

"I want to fulfill my promise to Browns fans to come back and help this team win," he said. "I don't want to let anybody down."

[loaf]

Another Beacon Journal writer:

 

1) So LeCharles Bentley goes to see his doctor, who says he can play football, and then the Browns ask him to see their doctor and Bentley says he doesn't care what the Browns' doctor says. Perhaps I'm a tad out of line to suggest such a thing, but Bentley and the Browns do not exactly seem to be on the same page here. For some reason this image of Bentley not passing the Browns' physical and being escorted off the practice field by team security comes to mind.

 

2) When you talk to the Browns, most of the brass say that they have had very little contact with Bentley since the staph infection ravaged his body and knee repair. He has been in Phoenix and Columbus. He has been working on his own. He didn't -- as of June -- have a playbook. The new offensive coaching staff hasn't talked to him much. Nor the head coach. Nor the GM. There may be good reasons for this. Perhaps, indeed, Bentley needed the time and space to clear his head from what had to be extremely difficult and challenging medical experiences. Perhaps the Browns showed a veteran the respect he deserves. But it would seem that if things were hunky-dory and everyone was going to go to a picnic in the Metroparks together that there would be some communication. Hi, LeCharles, how are ya? How's the knee? Hey, did you hear about the new offense? We're pretty excited; we hope you are too. LeCharles, if you come back we would be thrilled, but we also want to take care of you. Did you wait until midnight to get the new Harry Potter book? Stuff like that. That it didn't happen sure seems to indicate again that there might be a tad bit of a gulf between the parties.

 

3) Bentley may defy the odds and play, but those sure seem like some long odds. The team's stance -- he must pass our physical plus perhaps see a third doctor -- seems to indicate the Browns will err on the side of caution. This seems wise. Sometimes guys develop other problems when they try to rush back too soon. Bentley's top priority is his health. If he can take it slow and come back completely healthy, that would be best. Even if it means waiting until 2008. If he comes back and plays on Opening Day in 2007, it would rival the loaves and fishes.

[DemonKnight]

Is there any legal recourse for the guys that keep catching staph from the Browns training facilities?

[jjpro11]

thats a shame.. its gotten rather pathetic to watch the browns centers try to hold back casey hampton. a bentley-hampton matchup would have been fun to watch. i hope bentley takes the browns for all he can, if in fact his career is over. getting a staph infection from an nfl facility is just wrong.

[loaf]

Is there any legal recourse for the guys that keep catching staph from the Browns training facilities?

 

 

thats a shame.. its gotten rather pathetic to watch the browns centers try to hold back casey hampton. a bentley-hampton matchup would have been fun to watch. i hope bentley takes the browns for all he can, if in fact his career is over. getting a staph infection from an nfl facility is just wrong.

where do you two have the info that he contracted the staph from the Browns facilities?

[myhousekey]

where do you two have the info that he contracted the staph from the Browns facilities?

 

Not sure if it was ever proven but when you have 5 staph infections in 3 years, somethings up...

 

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/CLE/9759483