Anterior Cruciate Ligament the ACL is in the center of the knee joint as one of it’s four main stabilizing ligaments. Over the past 2 years ACL injuries have haunted top athletes in the 3 major sports NFL, NBA, and MLB. Mariano Rivera from the Yankees injured his ACL catching fly balls in the outfield a 42 year old pitcher at the time that should have been just focusing on the mound. Last year in the NBA playoffs Chicago Bulls fans seen their NBA finals hopes go directly down the drain when Derek Rose had a non contact ACL tare. Rose is still on the sideline recovering from the injury. He has already missed the majority of this current 2012-2013 NBA season. Some people blame his injury on his Adidas sneakers because of the support but who knows. Earlier last NBA season Ricky Rubio a young up and coming point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves tore his LCL and ACL but is back at it going full strength this current season.

Now in the NFL a sport notorious for their ACL, MCL, PCL, and LCL injuries had a very devastating injury the end of the 2011-2012 season. Adrian Peterson who is considered to be the best running back in the NFL suffered a nasty ACL and MCL tare in his left knee a complete tare to be exact. It was rumors that Peterson wouldn’t play all of this season or that he would miss the majority of it. Well Adrian Peterson put all of the rumors aside and returned for the start of the 2012-2013 NFL season and was nothing short of amazing. Peterson would go on to rush for 2,097 yards 7 yards short of the NFL record 12 touchdowns and 6.0 yards a carry and he would win the MVP trophy well deserved.

During an NFL playoff game Offensive Rookie Of The Year RG3 injured his ACL and you could hear the air let out of the stadium and a pen drop. Chris Clemons of the Seattle Seahawks also had an ACL injury that game too. The RG3 injury is a huge impact so huge that the NFL contacted the Redskins about his timetable for return from injury because they wanted to make sure he would be available so that when the national TV schedule came out they would have enough prime time games it’s all about ratings. It affects the Redskins to what they can do on offense but opens up the door for their backup QB. RG3 sophomore NFL season will be in question because all eyes will be on his recovery. His speed burst won’t be the same for a little while and he might have to become a pocket passer for a month or two come next season. RG3 rehab will be closely watched by all analyst and media.

Over the years the recoveries from ACL injuries have been a lot better especially in Adrian Peterson’s place and Jamal Charles from the Kansas City Chiefs another running back who returned this past season. One injury to keep your eye on over the next year will be South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore who tore several ligaments in his right knee which were ACL, MCL, PCL, and LCL a lot worse than the Willis McGahee injury he suffered back in 2002. Lattimore was in a season where he was projected to go very high in the NFL draft and called the best RB in college by many. Lattimore said he will enter the NFL draft and my opinion is I would take a chance at him it could be a late round pick and he could turn out to be great. High risk high reward.