Chargers' Merriman will forgo surgery, play with knee injury

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by GMScud

I hear ya, to an extent. Hey, if you play through a broken pinky and it needs to be cut off (Ronnie Lott), or play with a broken leg or ankle (Jack Youngblood and Donovan McNabb), then hell yeah, you're a warrior. But if you play with torn knee ligaments that could end your career, what's better for both you and the Chargers? Being balsy and "tough" and playing a few more games until your career ends, or getting your knee taken care of and being great for several more seasons? This is no-brainer IMO.

Also, TO was just doing what was necessary to be effective for one game, and that game just happened to be the biggest of all. I don't think TO was at risk of ending his career with that ankle injury either.

EDIT:
On a side note, I just heard on ESPN that Merriman was advised to have corrective surgery after last season and decided against it. Look where that's left him.

For the record, Merriman has steadfastly denied that further aggravation of the knee without surgery could be career threatening. His position is that his doctors have told him he needs to get knee surgery at some point, but that he could also play this season without it, albeit with an elevated risk of further injury. Anyway, seems pretty gutsy and selfless to me and I don't get calling him an idiot, implying that he doesn't understand what is at stake.

And wouldn't Tiger be a better parallel than the ones you threw out? He was in the same situation as Merriman, essentially, and played in the US Open anyway, costing him the rest of his season and perhaps shortening his career (although I certainly hope not). I thought that was pretty gutsy too, although I guess you could also argue it was idiotic. Think about the money Tiger!