Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman Cam Heyward underwent surgery, he posted to his Instagram story. It is unclear exactly what Heyward had surgery on, but it is now his second surgery over the last year after having groin surgery following his injury against San Francisco.
It is unknown if this surgery is related to the groin injury. Heyward has discussed the injury he suffered at the 49ers at length. First, he stated that he had micro tears dating back to training camp, and they tried to rest it. But when he played against the 49ers, he tore the muscle off the bone, requiring surgery. At some point, while trying to compensate for it, he injured his other groin, too. Heyward should have missed 12 weeks after his surgery, but powered back far quicker than that.
Heyward said that in addition to surgery during the season and the new groin injury, he had a knee issue that kept him from practicing fully throughout almost the entire season after his return.
“I had my groin, then overcompensating with my other groin,” he said. “There was stuff on top of that, like my knee. It was a grind just to get ready for each game. It wasn’t by choice that I didn’t want to practice. It was ‘get me to the game.’ I don’t like that doing that. I don’t like playing football that way. I don’t ever want to cheat the game. I don’t ever want to think I’m not going to be 100%. But that was the cards I was dealt this year. It was a lot.”
Heyward won the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award last week in Las Vegas. He joined Franco Harris (1976), Joe Greene (1979), Lynn Swann (1981) and Jerome Bettis (2001) as the only Steelers players to receive the prestigious honor. The honor is bestowed annually to a player who not only excels on the field, but also with their service in their community.
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