Green always knew he’d return
Despite devastating injury and trade, Argos receiver certain his career wasn’t done
MONTREAL — S.J. Green remembers it all. The more time that passes, the more he’s able to dissect the play, second-by-second, in his mind, reflect upon it and marvel that he recovered to play professional football again.
It was a 15-yard out route, the ball lofted in the air by quarterback Kevin Glenn to the 6-foot-3, 220-pound receiver. Green was covered by Ottawa defensive-back Jerrell Gavins, who had him low. Green dropped the ball as they both crumbled to the turf together at Molson Stadium. Green felt numbness and tightness, but no pain. Still, having played 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League, he knew something wasn’t right.
It was only the second game of the season, at the end of June 2016, but Green suffered a complete tear of the medial, posterior and anterior crucial ligaments in his right knee. There also was damage to his meniscus.
His season was over and with it, much of the Alouettes’ hopes had been dashed as well.
Surgery was performed on Aug. 11, Green beginning an arduous ninemonth rehabilitation process the next day. It was easy to jump to conclusions, given the fact he already was 31. Many speculated the career of the talented receiver, who surpassed 1,000 yards in four of five seasons beginning in 2011, was over. Indeed, Green said he was advised by Vincent Lacroix, who heads the Als’ medical team, there was as high as a 50 per cent chance he would never again play.
But the native of Tampa didn’t want his career to end with a dropped pass and torn ligaments. “I looked at Dr. Lacroix sideways and told him that can’t be. That can’t be the end of my story,” Green told the Postmedia last week.
“Not once in my mind did I think or feel I would never play again. I was prepared to fight an uphill battle. I’ll be honest, I really just told myself to trust the process. A lot of people thought my career was over.”
Green was running on a zero-gravity treadmill within three or four months post-surgery, conducting his initial on-field activity the first week of January. He regularly shot videos, posting updates to his Twitter feed, still occasionally watching them for motivation.
You undoubtedly know the rest of the story by now.
Although the Als paid Green $70,000 in off-season bonuses — a clause in his contract obligated the team to pay the money; combined with his veteran status and the fact he had yet to be medically cleared, the organization couldn’t renege — they shocked the league by trading him to Toronto in late April.
The Als basically gave him away to the Argonauts, reunited with general manager Jim Popp and head coach Marc Trestman, receiving only a sixth-round draft choice this year along with a conditional pick in 2018.
Not only is Green healthy and playing without a brace, discarded at training camp, he’s on pace for a career season at age 32. Heading into Friday night’s game against the Als, he was second overall in receiving, with 43 catches for 673 yards. Green has three touchdowns.
“I was excited,” said Trestman, who coached Green for five seasons in Montreal. “I was surprised he would be available. I didn’t know that.”
Green’s not the first player the Als have abandoned later in his career — think Mike Pringle. Given the fact Green was scheduled to earn $250,000 this season, and coming off the debilitating injury, it would have been difficult to fit him in within the parameters of the salary cap. Green was approached by GM Kavis Reed about taking a pay cut at April’s mini-camp, initially amenable to the suggestion.
“I don’t want to get into it. If I tell you a little bit, I’d have to tell you all of it and I’d be shooting myself in the foot,” Green said. “I’m not going to sit here and throw dirt on Kavis’s name. It was too much of a pay cut to accept. Had I signed that contract and done what I’m doing now, I’d be sick. I’d be out a lot of money.”
Reed, just back from scouting NFL training camps, didn’t respond to a text message, but head coach Jacques Chapdelaine defended the organization, saying Green’s contract, combined with his uncertain health status, made it a potentially risky mixture.
“Medically, there wasn’t a high level of certainty of where we’d be able to project him this year. Put all these elements in place. I understood Kavis’s point of view,” Chapdelaine said.
“It was an organizational decision based on the information we had. The risk factor might not be as great in a different organization. It probably wasn’t as prohibitive for him to go to Toronto.”
While it’s easy to second-guess the Als’ medical team, it seems somebody dropped the ball. Green’s procedure was performed in Alabama by renowned American orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, who advised Green against surgery on his PCL, which would have extended the rehabilitation process and recovery time. Lacroix, according to Green, wanted to repair the PCL.
“I went to the best surgeon in the world for a reason,” Green stated. “They had two totally different opinions. If the situation was different ... maybe someone who knows more about me, where I come from and how I’d approach the situation ...
“I came this close to letting (Lacroix) do my surgery. No disrespect. He gave me his expertise and opinion. But based on my opinion, it wasn’t sufficient enough for me.”
Reed and Chapdelaine have maintained, throughout the course of the season, the organization doesn’t regret its decision. Chapdelaine said it was a difficult case to assess medically due to the nature of the surgery and the necessary repairs.
He defended the medical staff’s advice.
“This was a decision that wasn’t done overnight,” Chapdelaine said. “A lot of thought was put into it. He’s a tremendous player who’s going to make great plays. For us, that was the right thing to do.
“And it was the right thing to do for S.J.”