SteelCrazy
08-04-2016, 10:38 AM
After 7 surgeries, Maurkice Pouncey returns to Steelers
PITTSBURGH — Maurkice Pouncey’s plan to return to the Steelers from a lower-leg injury that required surgery was on schedule. After the fibula above his left ankle was broken in the second preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, this two-time All-Pro center was placed on short-term injured reserve and targeted a Nov. 29 game in Seattle — a week after the bye — for his comeback.
Then, to use his words, it all went black.
Sometime after the surgery, Pouncey developed a severe infection that threatened more than just his ability to return for the latter part of the 2015 season. It became a matter of possibly never playing football again.
“Everything went downhill from there,” said Pouncey, a Lakeland High alumnus.
The infection resulted in four more surgeries and two months of intravenous antibiotics. Then, two more major surgeries on his ankle. Seven surgeries in all.
“He could’ve lost a leg,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He would get done with one surgery and go right back for another. They had to put a pump in his arm to clean out his system. We were like, what the hell was going on?”
It was a difficult time for Pouncey. Having to watch his teammates have success without him was one thing; wondering when and if he could return to football was another.
To keep up his spirits and prevent this four-time Pro Bowl center from feeling left out, Foster and the other offensive linemen would go to Pouncey’s house every Thursday night to eat and watch football in the season.
“He would order the food, he would pay for it,” Foster said. “He wanted us there.”
That’s why Pouncey never returned to play football again last season. But he is back now with the Steelers — healthy and eager to go — and it’s difficult to tell who is more excited, Pouncey or the rest of the linemen.
“I feel like me again,” Pouncey said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be out there if I didn’t.”
http://www.theledger.com/article/20160803/NEWS/160809813?tc=ar
PITTSBURGH — Maurkice Pouncey’s plan to return to the Steelers from a lower-leg injury that required surgery was on schedule. After the fibula above his left ankle was broken in the second preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, this two-time All-Pro center was placed on short-term injured reserve and targeted a Nov. 29 game in Seattle — a week after the bye — for his comeback.
Then, to use his words, it all went black.
Sometime after the surgery, Pouncey developed a severe infection that threatened more than just his ability to return for the latter part of the 2015 season. It became a matter of possibly never playing football again.
“Everything went downhill from there,” said Pouncey, a Lakeland High alumnus.
The infection resulted in four more surgeries and two months of intravenous antibiotics. Then, two more major surgeries on his ankle. Seven surgeries in all.
“He could’ve lost a leg,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He would get done with one surgery and go right back for another. They had to put a pump in his arm to clean out his system. We were like, what the hell was going on?”
It was a difficult time for Pouncey. Having to watch his teammates have success without him was one thing; wondering when and if he could return to football was another.
To keep up his spirits and prevent this four-time Pro Bowl center from feeling left out, Foster and the other offensive linemen would go to Pouncey’s house every Thursday night to eat and watch football in the season.
“He would order the food, he would pay for it,” Foster said. “He wanted us there.”
That’s why Pouncey never returned to play football again last season. But he is back now with the Steelers — healthy and eager to go — and it’s difficult to tell who is more excited, Pouncey or the rest of the linemen.
“I feel like me again,” Pouncey said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be out there if I didn’t.”
http://www.theledger.com/article/20160803/NEWS/160809813?tc=ar