blacksaint

By Rick Cleveland
clarionledger


On Sept. 27, Deuce McAllister underwent his second surgery to repair major knee damage in the past two years. This time, the anterior cruciate ligament in McAllister's left knee was torn in a 31-14 New Orleans Saints loss to the Tennessee Titans Sept. 24. Surgeon James Andrews of Birmingham also cleaned up some scar tissue from the previous repair of McAllister's right knee. McAllister took a break from rigorous rehab to answer these questions.

Q. How are you doing physically?

A. Doin' well. Any time you have ACL surgery, you have some bad days along with the good days. The key is to stay positive and have more good days than bad. It's tough when you have surgery on both knees as I did this time. But I'm definitely making progress and I'm getting better.

Q. How are you dealing with this mentally?

A. I had to go through this two years ago, so I know what to expect. There are no surprises. Once I started the rehab process, which was the day after the surgery, I've looked at every day as a new day and an opportunity to get better.

Q. Before the surgery you said you would see how the procedure went and how you felt before making a firm decision on whether or not to come back. Have you had time to do that?

A. I'm coming back, no doubt about it. Some of the things that were going through my mind then were about the pain you go through and the time you have to put into it. I've set my mind to it. I'm 100 percent coming back.

Q. You have taken out two full-page, color advertisements in The Clarion-Ledger to thank fans for their prayers and support. Those of us who receive our paychecks from The Clarion-Ledger thank you. Seriously, I don't know that I've ever seen that from an athlete before. Did you do that in other newspapers and can you tell us your thought process in doing that?

A. I did it in Jackson and in the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. Here's what that was. I had so many phone calls and letters and get-well cards that there was no way I could return them all. I just wanted to let everybody know how much I appreciate the support. I figured the best way to reach the most people was in the Sunday newspaper so that's what I did. I am truly thankful for all the support I have received.

Q. Nobody has an explanation for what has happened to the Saints this year. Want to try?

A. It's a couple of things. Mostly, I think it's confidence. Winning those first two games last year meant so much to us. You need that confidence. This year we opened with two really tough games and weren't successful and as a result we're not playing with any confidence. Seems like we're putting our heads down and waiting for the next bad thing to happen. We're making the same mistakes.

Q. Where did you watch last Sunday's game with Carolina and how hard was that?

A. Unfortunately, I am rehabbing in Birmingham and this isn't a Saints TV market. I got the last few minutes after the game that was on here finished. We had opportunities. We should have won. I talked to a lot of the guys and told them to keep their heads up, that things will turn for them and I really think it will.

Q. How long will you be in Birmingham and when will you be coming home to Mississippi?

A. I'll be on crutches for the next couple weeks. Then I'll go down to New Orleans for a couple days to show our doctors the progress. Then, I'll be back and forth between New Orleans and Mississippi. This rehab is really time-consuming. It's a job. I get there at 8:30 in the morning and leave at 4:30 or 5 with an hour break for lunch. I'm making progress. I'm riding a stationary bike now and doing some leg presses. It's going as well as I could hope. It's slow but I'm making definite progress.

Q&A: Deuce McAllister - The Clarion-Ledger

saint4life
(504)

saintsfan1976

Deuce made a great point.... with a team devoid of standout leaders, "confidence" must be built along with a new identity.

QBREES9

That was a great post !!!!. and great read. Get better Deuce and come back soon.