Knee problems may end 49ers center's career
NFL.com wire reports
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Aug. 7, 2006) -- After several surgeries and months of rehabilitation, Jeremy Newberry still can't walk, drive or relax without constant pain in both knees.
He has an old man's gait at just 30, and now he's missing practice time in yet another training camp with the San Francisco 49ers.
On Aug. 7, the 49ers' hard-nosed two-time Pro Bowl center even acknowledged it might be time to consider retirement.
"That's definitely a possibility," Newberry said after sitting out his third straight day of workouts. "Not right now, but we'll see what happens."
He watched practice in shorts and a T-shirt before hobbling back to the locker room in obvious discomfort. Newberry underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee last December in a desperate attempt to revitalize the joint -- but now he's feeling much the same pain in his left knee.
Though Newberry's coaches and teammates praise his exemplary toughness, he knows there's a limit to the rationality of infinite rehab.
"I'm concerned about it, definitely," Newberry said. "I keep waiting for my legs to feel better. I keep waiting to wake up and not feel so bad, but it hasn't happened yet. ... I hope my legs get back to how they were feeling when I first came in, just so I can get around."
Newberry, a Bay Area native who played at Cal, was a stalwart starter for the 49ers from 1999 until 2003, when he played the entire season with a torn ligament in his left ankle. His right knee became troublesome in the 2004 training camp, and he played in just one game between two surgeries.
Newberry played 10 games last season, but was nowhere near fully healthy. He went on injured reserve in December and endured microfracture surgery, which creates a layer of scar tissue to replace the cartilage that's mostly gone from his right knee.
But after an offseason of rehabilitation, Newberry's left knee is showing the same signs of deterioration in his right knee, according to an MRI exam last week.
"Both of them are starting to buckle when I'm walking," he said. "When I'm driving or something, I've got to put it in cruise control and keep changing positions. ... I felt really good coming in and getting ready (for training camp). When I started playing football, that's when it started."
Though Newberry hopes to return to workouts soon, coach Mike Nolan and his staff must prepare for his absence. Nolan hopes the swelling in Newberry's left knee is temporary, but the coach wasn't certain he would be right.
And at least the 49ers have a solid contingency plan if Newberry can't play. Eric Heitmann filled in for Newberry for the last two years, and he has practiced with the first-team offense throughout training camp.
"I have tons of respect for the guy," Heitmann said. "He's a warrior. He's a physical specimen on the field. I hope he can get out there as soon as possible.
"When you play football, especially five years as an offensive lineman, you're well aware injuries are going to be a part of your career. You understand it and you feel it, but part of the game is being able to understand there's technique things you can do to keep yourself out of trouble."
But they don't always work: Heitmann has undergone two surgeries on his right hand, which briefly kept the Stanford grad from playing the piano.
http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/SF/9590415
all she wrote for newberry?
all she wrote for newberry?
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