Thurman Thomas: I played my entire career with a torn ACL

When looking at recent medical advances in the sports community, the diagnosis and treatment of torn ACLs don’t necessarily get a lot of play.

Up until just recently, a torn ACL pretty much meant the end of a football player’s career. Said medical advancements over the past two decades has changed this. And now, players can return to the field after less than a full calendar year. Think Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans as the most-recent case study.

This wasn’t the case when former Buffalo Bills running back and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas was dominating competition at Oklahoma State during the mid 1980s.

Thomas, who retired as the Bills’ all-time leading rusher back in 2000, took to Twitter recently to share a story of a torn ACL he suffered as a member of the Cowboys in 1986.