04/20/24
September 20, 2011
Romo Played with Broken Rib, Collapsed Lung: After suffering a broken rib and collapsed lung, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo returned to the game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, throwing for 201 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime in a 27-24 victory. "We never questioned his grit. We know he wants to win," said teammate Marcus Spears.
Bah, no needs to be able to breathe to play football!
posted by NoMich at 11:58 AM on September 20, 2011
Credit where due: I've been a Romo doubter and scorner, but that was a major man-up moment.
It would be great if it became a career defining moment as well, with him gaining the focus, presence, and consistency he needs to go along with the talent that he obviously has.
posted by beaverboard at 12:15 PM on September 20, 2011
"We never questioned his grit. We know he wants to win," said teammate Marcus Spears.
Playing with bruised ribs = grit.
Playing with broken ribs and a punctured lung = stupidity.
Praising someone for playing with broken ribs and a punctured lung = beyond stupidity.
As an EMT instructor once explained to me, "100% of people who can't breathe, go into cardiac arrest." There really isn't anything to debate.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:18 PM on September 20, 2011
As an EMT instructor once explained to me, "100% of people who can't breathe, go into cardiac arrest."
Why let a little thing like cardiac arrest get in the way of leading your team into an overtime victory? Ge'ez, what are your priorites?
posted by BornIcon at 01:23 PM on September 20, 2011
100% of people who can't breathe, go into cardiac arrest.
He has another lung.
posted by Debo270 at 01:27 PM on September 20, 2011
This is actually something I've worried about-that all the pressure put on Romo (by a lot of different sources) will trick him into doing something really stupid, and playing too hard. I think we've crossed that line.
In a somewhat related note, in high school, one of my teammates got concussed so hard he couldn't even recognize his own mother. I realized at that point that if that happened to me, I'd be gladly willing to walk away from football. There's some injuries where you have to realize, "it's not worth it."
posted by Bonkers at 01:32 PM on September 20, 2011
As an EMT instructor once explained to me, "100% of people who can't breathe, go into cardiac arrest." There really isn't anything to debate.
If there's no debate then why did you wander in here, to piss in everyone else's pool?
It was pretty gutsy, reckless, and the exact antithesis to what Tony Romo's rep has been to date. I've punctured a lung due to a broken rib and I can safely say:
1) You can breathe... 2) but it hurts an effing lot... 3) and I can only imagine what a 300 lb lineman on top of you while you're trying to breathe would feel like. Oy vey.
posted by dfleming at 01:34 PM on September 20, 2011
Credit where due ...
Ditto here, on everything in your post.
I find it alarming that the Cowboys medical staff allowed him to go back out with that injury - broken ribs don't take a whole lot of jarring to potentially puncture other internals.
posted by cixelsyd at 02:41 PM on September 20, 2011
File this under "Things Jay Cutler would never do."
posted by phaedon at 02:49 PM on September 20, 2011
File this under "Things Jay Cutler would never do."
Well done. I applaud your snarkiness, sir.
posted by BornIcon at 03:03 PM on September 20, 2011
debo270:
He has another lung.
dfleming: I've punctured a lung due to a broken rib and I can safely say:
1) You can breathe... 2) but it hurts an effing lot... 3) and I can only imagine what a 300 lb lineman on top of you while you're trying to breathe would feel like. Oy vey.
This isn't exactly correct. The danger of a punctured lung is that you're still drawing in air, but it's leaking out of the lung and into the chest cavity between the parietal pleura and the visceral pleura. That air stays there, outside your lungs but inside your body, when you exhale. Then, on the next inhalation, more air follows. That air in the chest cavity, and the pressure of that air is what causes the lung to collapse -- it doesn't collapse because air just goes whistling out of it.
The thing is, if the condition isn't relieved, there's nothing to stop that air once it's collapsed the damaged lung -- it will keep on going and collapse the other lung as well. And then, believe me, that person is not breathing any more. Less commonly, the pressure can come from blood (hemothorax), but usually it's air. That's what happened to Drew Bledsoe, and it happened to Tony Romo, too.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:22 PM on September 20, 2011
If you are arguing that a punctured lung can lead to someone stopping breathing, I don't think anyone is disputing that.
I think what people are saying is that he did continue breathing and what that means about him is up for debate.
posted by dfleming at 05:06 PM on September 20, 2011
Thanks for the explanation, lbb. Did not know that's how it went.
posted by tron7 at 05:19 PM on September 20, 2011
Thin line between being gutsy and stupid. I think he probably crossed it.
Big difference between playing hurt and playing injured. The risk is just too great to condone taking the chance. Romo "manned up" this time, but next time he could easily do unnecessary damage to himself.
posted by dviking at 05:44 PM on September 20, 2011
I think what people are saying is that he did continue breathing and what that means about him is up for debate.
It would be ludicrous to say that Tony Romo didn't continue to breathe on his own until he eventually got medical attention, and of course I didn't say that. I also don't have any trouble believing that he didn't know the nature or implications of his injuries, and may very well have believed (at least for a time) that his difficulty breathing was due to pain and not to anything else. But it's a red-flag mechanism of injury and set of symptoms that should cause a knowledgeable person, such as a trainer, to realize that there's the possibility of pneumothorax or hemothorax. It's a life-threatening injury -- "grit" has nothing to do with whether you can or should keep playing in that situation.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:50 PM on September 20, 2011
Here's a little bit more from doctors on Romo's injury and the likelihood of harm from re-injuring it.
Clearly no one should continue playing with a life-threatening injury. But given the amount of time Romo was gone seeking treatment, I don't think he comes back into that game if there's any perceived chance both lungs might collapse. I would like to see the media digging into that, though. NFL team doctors have a long ugly history of putting player health last.
Romo definitely proved his toughness, though. This is like Emmitt's separated shoulder game.
posted by rcade at 09:08 PM on September 20, 2011
I love the quote at the end of that article, rcade:
"As a trauma surgeon, I think it's probably safe to let him give it shot," said Dr. Alex Eastman from Parkland Memorial Hospital. "But as a Redskin fan, I think he needs to be out at least 18 weeks."
posted by dfleming at 06:50 AM on September 21, 2011
Sorry LBB, I was sorta being a smart-ass with the he has 2 lungs thing.
I am sure the medical staff had no idea about the punctured lung when they let him back on the field, I Have cracked ribs before(football /soccer) and know the feeling. I would not want to take a sack, thats for sure. Hopefully the coach was smart enough to call all 3 step drop stuff from that point on.
Did he take alot of hits after he came back in? I watched the game but was a little boozed up.
posted by Debo270 at 09:24 AM on September 21, 2011
Boomer Esiason calls for an NFL investigation of how Romo was allowed back on the field. "I thought we were supposed to have people on the sideline that were supposed to protect the players from themselves," he said. "Are you allowed to play with a punctured lung, a collapsed lung, broken ribs? Is that what the NFL is now? Or do we actually care about the players?"
posted by rcade at 12:02 PM on September 22, 2011
Did he take alot of hits after he came back in?
I can recall only one play that worried me after Romo returned.
posted by rcade at 12:03 PM on September 22, 2011
I've ended up cracking a rib or two during a soccer match, and I find it amazing that he was able to finish the game. They must have really doped him up on painkillers or local anesthesia.