Under The Knife: Numerous Steelers Get Prepped For Offseason Surgery

It should really come as no surprise after this particular season, but there are a ton of Steelers lined up and ready to have offseason surgery on any sundry of body parts.  Good thing Steelers’ Headquarters is located near the heart of UPMC.

It’s typical for the offseason to have it’s dose of scalpels and scopes.  It’s just crazy to think that there are so many on the Steelers roster that are already lined up waiting to hear ‘The doctor will see you now’ or ‘Just breathe deeply and by the time you count to 10 you’ll be asleep.’  And it’s only a few days after their early exit from the playoffs.  Usually a few creep up a few months in after the extent of an injury is finally known or natural healing doesn’t work.  Here’s what we know so far:

Currently Healing from Surgery:

Aaron Smith – neck

Chris Hoke – neck

Byron Leftwich – left arm

On deck surgeries:

Rashard Mendenhall – ACL

Marukice Pouncey – Ankle (actually happening today, 1/12)

Highly Possible:

Max Starks – ACL

Casey Hampton – ACL

Brent Kiesel – groin

Doug Legursky – shoulder

Maybe’s?:

Ben Roehtlisberger – pick a body part

James Harrison – Toe

Meweldee Moore – knee

Phew.  That’s a lot.  Think I need a nurse to wipe my forehead with a sponge.  It’s no joke – a ton of Steelers went down this season with some substantial injuries.  Now I never really agreed that the Steelers were so old and so slow that they were done.  However, this is certainly when age becomes the biggest factor – ability to fully recover from an injury.  The older you are the more difficult it is to recover and the longer it takes.  And sometimes injuries are significant enough that they become career enders even for the young guns – but don’t tell Willis McGahee and his knee that.

It will be interesting to see how all these guys recover from their surgeries and how far they’ve come in time for training camp.