DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Baxter Has Another Knee Surgery!!!

Cleveland Browns safety Baxter undergoes another knee surgery
by Mary Kay Cabot, Plain Dealer Reporter
Tuesday August 05, 2008, 4:41 PM

Browns safety Gary Baxter, who has been attempting a comeback from two torn patella tendons, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery this morning at the Cleveland Clinic.

This is the latest setback for Baxter, who tore both patella tendons on the same play in a game against Denver on Oct. 22, 2006. He attempted to come back last season, but wasn't ready and spent the season on the physically unable to perform list.

He has been taking part in training camp, but had been on limited duty for the last several days.

Two weeks ago, Baxter met with former Chicago Bears receiver Wendell Davis, the only other NFL player to suffer two torn patella tendons on the same play. Davis, who never made it back from his injury, was a visitor to the Browns camp and GM Phil Savage introduced them. After their meeting, Baxter said he was being realistic about his comeback chances and that he would know if it was time to call it quits.

The Browns signed Baxter as a free agent from Baltimore on March 4, 2005. He had been drafted by Baltimore in the second round of the 2001 draft and didn't miss a game in his last three seasons there. In his first season with the Browns, he played in just five games after suffering a concussion during the exhibition season, then a torn pectoral muscle on Oct. 23 against Detroit. He played in the first three games of 2006 before suffering the knee injuries.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2008/08/cleveland_browns_safety_baxter_1.html

Bye, Gary.

I was rooting for him to make history.

Sounds like he's much better equipped to handle the disappointment this year than he was last year.

Good luck on your next endeavor, Gary.

Unfortunately, that might be it for Gary! Way to try to come back.. The knee is just not a forgiving joint!!!

The upside is that this allows him to go on PUP/IR... we can't cut him without an injury settlement, so he's here until next year without burning a roster spot.

The downside is that unless this was just to clean out some scar tissue that was bothering him, this is probably the official end of his career. It's a damned shame.


You gave it one helluva shot Gary, you did more than I thought was possible for sure. Nothing but the best of wishes to you.

That's just it...what was this surgery for?

We can finally put that disastrous free agent period to bed. Baxter, Schaeffer, Bentley...ughh

Yet another reason to build through the draft!

Crap. Not that I thought he'd be able to make it all the way back (the odds are/were obviously against him), but you hate to hear about setbacks like this when the guy has worked as hard as he has.

Godspeed GBax.

Would have been one hell of a story had he been able to come all the way back,, Come to think of it, the fact he can even walk was a hell of a story.

I'm no defeatist, but this doesn't look possible..

I wish, but I doubt!

Best of luck GBax

Period doesn't neccesarily means the same exact year, but to quote Toad, "necktie" is probably our worst O-lineman.

Best of luck, Gary... I know you won't give up without a fight.

Goodbye Gary I said when this happened he would never play again (even though I prayed that he would) He came a lot farther than I thought he would, and IMO it was because of his hard work and attitude. The mind was willing, but the body was weak. I think the guy deserves a standing ovation for what he put himself through in rehab, and for him busting his arse to make it back on the roster.

People can say what they want about the guy when he was playing, but he would have run through a brick wall head first with no helmet to make it back.

This sucks. I always held hope in the back that he would make it, but I think this is a reality check.

not sure... but he can definitely go on IR.

RAC said it was just a scope to clean out some cartilage.... I guess we'll see what this means in about a month or two.

hope it isn't as serious as it would seem. Man I really hope he can return for at least one play this season. I One play, just to actually make it on the field.

If that's all it was, he's not done yet. With his determination and desire, if it's this minor, it's not necessarily the final nail in the coffin. Hoping and praying it's this simple and he can still continue towards his dream.

Damn, you gotta feel for the guy.

I know how important coming back from this was.

I can't see them holding up a roster spot for a guy who's been out for 2 years. That's hard. I'd hate to see him get cut and have his dream shattered, but the it may be in the best interest of the team.

even if he can't go this season, Baxter is the type of guy I could see continue rehabbing and try again next year

Sometimes the measure of a man is the fight, not the out come....

Your a class act, hope you stick around in some capacity.

According to Browns.com, the surgery was to remove a loose piece of cartilage ... not necessarily the end of the line. He could conceivably be back for the final pre-season game - that's JMO, by the way - not from the Browns or Baxter.

Good that it was a simple surgery. Thanks for the update.

I'm trying to remember the Browns player - I think it was an OL or DL - that played the week following the same type of surgery. So much of the recovery after a scoping has to do with your conditioning, and how long the problem had been going on. Sounds to me like Baxter had a problem and it was immediately taken care of. When I got scoped a few years back to remove entire medial meniscus, after having had chronic problems for years and a good deal of atrophy from being in an immobilizer for 3 weeks awaiting surgery, it was a good 12-16 weeks of rehab.

He might be the weakest link in the STARTING OL but he's not the worst OL we have!

And I would argue that he's been pretty solid at RT.

On Topic: I won't count G-Bax out till he's out of football. God luck G-Bax.

Prayers out to Baxter and his recovery efforts.

I know I was in the minority but I always liked Baxter - I thought he was good, problem was we never really got to see him play. The guy was injured or playing hurt or recovering while playing the whole time he was here. No sooner did he come back and get the rust off of him then he would reinjure himself (somewhere new and different) and miss the rest of the season.

Too bad we never got to see him at his best (healthy).

Well good luck and I guess the 4th Safety spot is wide open now.

JMHO

Anybody hear anything on LaCharles? If he doesn't get any bites soon it might be the end for him too.

Another setback for Baxter
web page
Zac Jackson, Staff Writer
08.05.2008

Gary Baxter's inspirational comeback attempt has hit a bump in the road.

Baxter had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage from his knee on Tuesday. He's been practicing with the Browns and attempting to make an unprecedented comeback after tearing both patella tendons while breaking up a pass in 2006.

Baxter had been missing from practice over the last several days, and Browns coach Romeo Crennel said he learned today that Baxter would need another surgery.

"This cartilage thing is going to slow him down a little bit and he's disappointed about it," Crennel said. "But he's matured quite a bit and he'll be able to handle it. If he can handle two patella tendons on the same play, he can handle a piece of cartilage that they take out of the knee."

Crennel said he was impressed enough with the work Baxter has done in even getting this far that he's used Baxter as an inspiration for the rest of the team. Baxter was covering Brad Cieslak over the middle last week when he broke on a Brady Quinn pass and swatted it to the ground.

"I showed that play to the team that night," Crennel said. "I thought that was meaningful. It was two years since he got his hands on that ball that he'd been in a competitive situation.

"I think the guys in the room understood why I showed that play. They're pulling for him just like he's pulling for himself. That was just a good play to show."

Baxter obviously won't play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Jets, and Crennel said it's unclear what Baxter's next step will be.

"He'll do (well with his rehab) and we'll see where that leads us as far as he's concerned," Crennel said. "Gary wants to play. He will evaluate it and sometime after the surgery he'll evaluate it and make a decision on what he wants to do."

The upside is that this allows him to go on PUP/IR... we can't cut him without an injury settlement, so he's here until next year without burning a roster spot.


Yeah...thing is he's done..he made a valiant effort but he's done

Just thinking off the cuff here.....but maybe the team is the one who told him to get a scope...as a way to not have to cut him and find a way to pay him one more year for all of his dedication and effort.

We will list him, not activate him, pay him the year, then cut him if he hasn't gotten the message.

Some people deserve severance pay. This might be a form of that.

this really came as a surprise. never saw it coming. to be honest, i thought he was going to be the answer at CB for us. guess i was mistaken.

Baxter is officialy off the team now it says on the website.

Heres the article...

Link

Baxter's contract terminated
Steve King, Staff Writer
08.09.2008
If this were the Boston Marathon, then Gary Baxter would have heroically persevered through the first 26 miles.

Unfortunately, it's the last 385 yards that separated him and the finish line -- at least for now.

The veteran defensive back's improbable nearly two-year comeback from two severely damaged knees -- one of the most remarkable injury stories in the history of the Browns, if not the NFL overall -- ended when the Browns announced on Saturday that they had terminated his contract.

The announcement effectively brought to a halt his return to the playing field, although it's not immediately clear if the 29-year-old Baxter might try to play for the Browns or another NFL down the road.

"Last year we were able to hold a roster spot open for Gary as he attempted to make a monumental comeback," said Phil Savage, Cleveland Browns Senior Vice President and General Manager, in a statement released by the team on Saturday afternoon. "After he underwent a knee scope last week, we are unfortunately not in a position to hold a roster spot this year. We are releasing Gary today in hopes he will be able to continue his rehab and get back into the NFL, either with another team, or possibly with the Browns. Gary has made tremendous strides thus far and we believe he can play professional football again in the future."

The eight-year pro had vowed from the outset that he would return to play again for the Browns after suffering two torn patella tendons while jumping to defend a pass in an Oct. 22, 2006 game against the Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns Stadium. He did, but never in a game.

The rare double torn patella injury, believed to have been suffered by only one other professional athlete, former Chicago Bears wide receiver Wendell Davis 15 years ago, literally crippled him.

His comeback talk seemed nothing more than that. But he was ultra-diligent with his rehabilitation, so much so, in fact, that, less than 11 months later, in September 2007, he suprised many by making the Browns' opening-day roster.

He was listed as inactive for the first six games of the season, and was finally placed onto Injured Reserve, thus ending his season.

Baxter worked just as hard this past offseason to continue his comeback and gradually was finally able to participate in most of training camp. More and more, it looked like he was going to fully defy the odds and play in a regular-season game. He was playing safety after having previously been a cornerback, as the Browns thought that position might be easier on his knees.

A highlight of camp came when Davis, participating in Browns general manager Phil Savage's apprenticeship program, got to meet Baxter and spend some time with him. Both men said afterward it was therapeutic for them.

But then Baxter hit another obstacle when, a little more than a week later, the pain in his knees forced him to have arthroscopic surgery earlier this week.