Analysis Paper 3- Brady hits snag

The article, Brady’s Recovery Hits Snag was written by Shira Springer and published in The Boston Globe on October 24, 2008. Springer discusses New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady and his knee injury that occurred on the opening week of the 2008 NFL season. She also describes how Brady’s knee is infected and what the doctors are doing to treat his injury so that he will be able to make a full recovery and possibly play next season. This story Springer wrote is a feature story for the newspaper.
First, Springer describes how Brady is handling the injury by stating that he went through a second procedure on October 15 and is being treated with a six- week course of IV antibiotics. She also stated that Brady’s recovery process is not compromised by the infection in his knee because the doctors are cleaning the wound properly and hope that Brady will make a full recovery and return to playing football. Therefore, Springer states that Brady is being taken care of by his personal doctors and the Patriots’ medical staff is supporting Brady’s decision on choosing a personal doctor.
Springer then discusses how the infection could have long term problems by damaging Brady’s knee even further. She explains that the doctors are trying the find the bacteria that infected Brady’s knee, but their best hypothesis for the bacteria would be staph which the doctors state is the most common cause in the septic joint infecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL). Springer then mentions the possible problems that the infection can cause which include long-term knee problems, a decrease in mobility, stiffness, weakness, and lingering pain. These effects can possibly harm Brady because if the infection grows too large; he could possibly never regain full motion on the knee that would force him to retire from the NFL. Therefore, Springer’s description about the infection in Brady’s knee suggests that the infection could cause serious problems for him and his career.
Another thing Springer describes about the knee injury is how doctors progress in a normal surgery. She explains that the doctors handle both ACL and MCL injuries by trying to fix the MCL injury or by letting the MCL injury heal naturally. The next step after the MCL is repaired is to fix the ACL injury and the patient will heal in a certain amount of time. The doctors told Springer that a normal knee surgery takes several months to repair, and that the patient should be able to make a full recovery and continue with his or her career. Therefore, Springer’s description about a knee operation clearly shows what doctors have to do in order for the patient to have a full recovery.
Finally, Springer describes how Brady’s knee got injured and what joints are suffering the infection. Brady injured his knee when a defensive tackle of the Kansas City Chiefs hit Brady’s knee with his shoulder pad and Brady was feeling extreme pain. Brady injured his MCL and ACL ending his season with the Patriots. Doctors stated that the septic joints could possibly be infected; therefore, the doctors had to wash out Brady’s knee two to three times so that the risk of infection would not become a major concern during the surgery. Also, Springer illustrates that the infection in Brady’s knee is a fairly common treatment for the doctors to handle. Therefore, Springer states that the doctors will be able to clean Brady’s knee and wash out the infection so as to continue the surgery which will take several months.
In this writer’s opinion, Springer did a good job reporting this feature story about Tom Brady for a few reasons. The first reason is that Springer did a good job describing how doctors handle a knee surgery by cleaning the knee for any infection and then starting on the surgery. Basically, describing the ACL and MCL and which joint is normally infected supports Springer’s thesis about a knee surgery and how doctors use the proper treatment to repair the knee so that athletes like Brady can make a full recovery from the injury.
Another reason why this writer thinks that Springer did a good job writing this feature story is that Springer explained how long the procedure would take for Brady’s knee to completely heal. She illustrates by explaining the length of time the doctors predicted for Brady’s knee to be completely repaired so that he will be ready for the 2009 NFL season. Basically, Springer stated that the knee injury will keep Brady off the field for the rest of the 2008 season. Therefore, Springer explained with details on how long the recovery will take and she used direct quotes from the doctors who explained the process of the surgery and how they will be able to treat Brady’s knee with good care.
Finally, this writer thinks that Springer wrote well because it covers one of the most valuable players in the NFL. Basically, this story covered one of the best players in the league, and Springer, like many other NFL fans, hopes that Brady will make a full recovery and be able to play football again for the New England Patriots. Also, this writer thinks that Springer wrote about a player that has had a huge impact not only on fans, but coaches and players of the league as well. In other words, with the loss of Brady, teams will have a better chance of winning against the Patriots, but they also hope that Brady will get his knee repaired and will be able to play next season so that players and coaches will have a challenge provided by one of the best players in the NFL. Therefore, Springer emphasizes that Tom Brady is one of the best players in the NFL and she made sure that her story will give complete coverage on how Brady’s surgery is progressing.
After reading this article, this writer thinks Springer made a good feature story for the newspaper and for sports fans that follow football. Therefore, this article has a big impact not only on sports fans, but also the players who have sustained a serious injury and will be missing an entire season.