Report of Tom Brady's knee problems 'ridiculous'

Albert Breer
Sporting News

An internet report Thursday quoting unnamed sources portended an end to the career of New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, the reigning NFL MVP, because of complications linked to infections that followed his October knee reconstruction.

A source with intimate knowledge of Brady's condition told Sporting News on Thursday afternoon that "nothing could be further from the truth." The source said Brady is "right on track" to recover in time for the 2009 season, adding his rehab is going "perfectly."

Brady tore his ACL and MCL in the club's Sept. 7 opener against Kansas City and had the reconstructive surgery on his left knee Oct. 6. A post-surgery infection prompted doctors to perform three follow-up procedures on the knee to contain the infection.

Sporting News sources say the infection was successfully contained, and Brady was able to start the rehabilitation process like any other athlete with such an injury.

In October, Dr. James Gladstone, chief of medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, told Sporting News that, "If (the treatment for the infection) works like it's supposed to work, he's got every chance to do as well as anyone with his rehab."

The report of a major, career-threatening setback that surfaced Thursday morning quoted an unnamed orthopedic surgeon with knowledge of Brady's injury as saying, "(His career) is dead. It's over -- plain and simple."

Sporting News' source called that diagnosis "ridiculous."

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.