You've damaged the nerves and arteries around the joint. They can't function normally when the knee is filled with fluid.

In basketball and soccer players, that's what usually happens. Nobody even touches them. The body is caught in a given position where there is rotation on the leg, and all the pressure is placed on that one ligament.

You're looking at two little poke holes and a small incision to harvest the graft.

The bottom line is the knee is a very, very inherently unstable joint which was never made to play football.

The spot is the key to the operation. Misplacing this femoral tunnel only three or four millimeters can have a devastating result.

You have to re-educate that leg as to its muscle-firing patterns, the nerve pathways, so you can walk and run again.

We have athletes who get in the same spot on the field (and) freeze. An athlete such as Carson Palmer, who has to sit in there, it reminds me of Joe Namath. There is always the psychological aspect of keeping that foot planted and throwing over that front foot and worrying about getting hit on. It's real.

You have to define success. The bottom line is an athlete or a person getting back to what he wants to do.

The ACL has little, if any, ability to heal itself, and if it's torn it now leaves you with a functional disability. You can't run, jump or cut.