CINCINNATI — Carson Palmer's knee injury was "devastating and potentially career-ending," involving numerous ligament tears, a shredded ligament, damaged cartilage and a dislocated kneecap, his surgeon said Thursday.
The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback tore ligaments in his left knee when he was hit by Pittsburgh's Kimo von Oelhoffen on his first pass during the Steelers' 31-17 playoff victory Sunday.
The team announced he had torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments. The damage was much more extensive and severe, but Dr. Lonnie Paulos said surgery went well and Palmer could be back for the start of the season.
Palmer had surgery Tuesday in Houston. Doctors used grafts from other parts of his body and donated tissue to fix the damage during an operation that lasted more than two hours. Palmer headed back to California on Thursday to do his rehabilitation.
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"It's not just like it was a torn ACL," Paulos said Thursday, in a phone interview from Houston. "It's a magnitude more difficult to recover from and repair. It can and has ended careers, without a doubt.
"However, I feel very comfortable with Carson as an athlete and the heart that he's got. In the end, that's the bottom line. I can see the look in his eye already. He's ready to get going."
Paulos, an orthopedic surgeon who has worked with the U.S. Ski Team since 1983, replaced the anterior cruciate ligament, which runs through the middle of the knee and provides stability. He said the medial collateral ligament, which runs along the side of the knee, was damaged "real bad."
"On a scale of 1 to 3, it was a 4," he said. "It was off the chart. It was pretty badly damaged — shredded is the better term."
The kneecap dislocated when Palmer was hit, damaging tissue around it. There also was some cartilage damage, he said.
Man accused of using Favre's credit card
PHOENIX — A Phoenix man was arrested Thursday after allegedly using a credit card account belonging to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre more than 40 times, authorities said.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office said William J. Joachim, 35, was arrested on four felony charges of theft, fraud schemes, aggravated taking the identity of another and misconduct involving weapons.
Two other men were arrested in the case and booked into the Maricopa County jail on forgery charges.
Arizona authorities received information from the NFL last month that Favre's credit card account had been compromised and more than 40 unauthorized transactions were made in Maricopa County.
The charges totaled more than $10,000, according to authorities.
Browns' Dilfer testifies in assault trial
LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Cleveland Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer testified that a man insulted him in front of fans in a bar last June and then punched him.
"It was a good shot," said Dilfer, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds. "It knocked me back to a certain degree and stung me pretty good."
Dilfer testified Wednesday in Joshua Pfeil's misdemeanor assault trial in suburban Cleveland. After Pfeil's insult, Dilfer said he turned toward the 23-year-old man, warned him to stop and tried to distance himself from him. But Pfeil, 6-foot and 150 pounds, caught the player with a punch to the left side of his face, Dilfer said.
Pfeil's lawyer said Dilfer sparked the fight June 10, before the quarterback began his first season with the Browns. Dilfer ripped Pfeil's shirt, choked him and threw him into a spiral staircase, attorney Jeffry Kelleher said. Dilfer said he grabbed Pfeil's shirt but never hit him.
Pfeil alerted police, according to a police report. Witnesses testified that the bartender held Dilfer back after Pfeil punched him.
