Thread: Urlacher: Dr. Cole Explains The Magic & Pixie Dust Procedure

I think that players sometimes "grasp at straws" to try to come back earlier than expected from injury. Nature of the beast I suppose. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Technology has come a long way from the Butkus / Sayers era and will continue to evolve for the better I hope.

Whatever the case might be with all of this I have 1 question . Is he running at all yet , and is he going to be able to practice and train at all before the season starts ? Cuz if he can't, I'll say this. Anything bad enough to prohibit any sort of physical activity means Brian Urlacher won't be the one on the field. It's gonna be Brian Gimplacher. And all his ' experience ' might not be enough to compensate for the step or two he has 'potentially' lost .

The gist of it, based on what I understood the good Doc to say, is that there are reasons why this may and some instances should and does work but we're really not certain exactly why. (sounds like a lot of psychotropic meds like anti-depressants). There are instances where it works better than others and in some cases not at all. But.......(here's the kicker) there are adverse reactions in some patients or in other words it doesn't make the boo boo better, it makes it worse.

I still come back to my original "it quacks like a duck" logic here. Brian's injury is much worse than originally thought. Either there's more damage that's been caused by it or there has been an accumulation of damage and this just pushed it all over the edge. If it's degenerative there is no permanent fix. All you can do is prolong the inevitable. It will become arthritic and for that there is no current cure, only treatment and rest which is what's going on right now.

Up 'til now Brian has always been a fast healer but not this time. So what does that tell us? What I get from it is that this injury is a little beyond even his body chemistry's own mojo, magic and pixie dust as far as self healing. In his case those substances, whatever they are, are not being produced as the same rate they used to be. He's aging the same as the rest of us. This experimental treatment has helped some heal faster by trying to reintroduce some of those healing properties artificially but it doesn't always work and as in other instances and other procedures sometimes the body rejects the supposed cure and the situation becomes even worse. In Brian's case this may have happened ergo the need to have the knee scoped.

Bottom line? None of this is good. He's 34, he's had a serious injury, and he's not recovering like he thought he would. The end is near and I don't say that without a great deal of disappointment but "it is what it is". We don't need a lot more evidence and a bunch of articles from the Bears scribes. Common sense will do. There is nothing else that leads us away from the inevitable conclusion that the knee is or has deteriorated badly enough that his career is now riding on the fence. The only real question for him is how does it play out from here?

Originally Posted by soulman

The only real question for him is how does it play out from here?

I'm hoping two good things happen:

1) Brian can play at a high level this year and next - even if it's not quite as high as he has been playing. But still one of the better MLB's in the league. And then gracefully retire a Bear. He was playing GREAT last season prior to the knee injury. So, there may be hope that he won't drop off the cliff in performance immediately.

2) The Bears bump the Urlacher replacement issue to tier-1 now. Draft priority #1 for 2013.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I'm hoping two good things happen:

1) Brian can play at a high level this year and next - even if it's not quite as high as he has been playing. But still one of the better MLB's in the league. And then gracefully retire a Bear. He was playing GREAT last season prior to the knee injury. So, there may be hope that he won't drop off the cliff in performance immediately.

2) The Bears bump the Urlacher replacement issue to tier-1 now. Draft priority #1 for 2013.

Both great ideas if it works. What bother me about #1 is that he may not even make it through all of this year. Butkus was a shadow of himself his last two seasons and I hate to say it but as the great Yogi Berra once said, "It's Deja Vu all over again".

Drafting a replacement for Urlacher will be as much as matter of luck as skill but in this case I'm glad it's Phil Emery at the tiller steering the ship. He seems to be pretty good at seeing things some others don't and he's not shy about lifting rock and branches looking for what he's after. The next Bears MLB may already be playing in the NFL.

Originally Posted by soulman

Both great ideas if it works. What bother me about #1 is that he may not even make it through all of this year. Butkus was a shadow of himself his last two seasons and I hate to say it but as the great Yogi Berra once said, "It's Deja Vu all over again".

Drafting a replacement for Urlacher will be as much as matter of luck as skill but in this case I'm glad it's Phil Emery at the tiller steering the ship. He seems to be pretty good at seeing things some others don't and he's not shy about lifting rock and branches looking for what he's after. The next Bears MLB may already be playing in the NFL.

All great points. I'm just hoping for the best, and trying hard not to fear the worst. There are a number of ways this can play out.

Originally Posted by soulman

Both great ideas if it works. What bother me about #1 is that he may not even make it through all of this year. Butkus was a shadow of himself his last two seasons and I hate to say it but as the great Yogi Berra once said, "It's Deja Vu all over again".

Drafting a replacement for Urlacher will be as much as matter of luck as skill but in this case I'm glad it's Phil Emery at the tiller steering the ship. He seems to be pretty good at seeing things some others don't and he's not shy about lifting rock and branches looking for what he's after. The next Bears MLB may already be playing in the NFL.

Maybe even on the Bears roster now.

At this point, I would strongly consider moving Shea McClellin to MLB. I think he's more of a natural linebacker than he is a defensive end. He's not bulky enough to play defensive end, and I don't know how much weight and muscle he would have to gain in order to become the ideal size/weight for being that type of player. But he's already the size of a linebacker right now, and I would almost bet that he would soar like an eagle in the sky if you had him running the defense. He's a football player, and maybe the most gifted young defender we've had come along in about ten years.