Stefan McClure Tears ACL, MCL, Meniscus

by Avinash Kunnath on Nov 30, 2011 11:46 PM PST in California Golden Bears Football

And my MRI said "Torn MCL, ACL, and MENISCUS"

Horrible news. Usually injuries like these take awhile to recover from--I'd guess six to eight months at the least if it was just one of those first two. All three at once could mean the cornerback is out for most of next season. John Breech of CBS Sports says that it'll be at least nine months of recovery, meaning McClure would miss all of spring and fall camp.

If we see McClure ready for action anytime in 2012 I'd be ecstatic. Tedford was really high on McClure, even saying that he could be the best cornerback in his tenure if he fulfilled his potential. Since McClure did play his freshman season, it wouldn't be a surprise if Cal decides to use a medical redshirt to retain three more years of eligiblity.

If there's any silver lining (and there's really none to consider), it's that none of our cornerbacks will be graduating and all of them should be returning to action next season. Marc Anthony will be a senior and Steve Williams will be a junior, and Josh Hill should also be back in action. Kameron Jackson looks like he could slide in for McClure to fill in the two deep until he's ready to go, and Adrian Lee might also be someone to look out for. There's also a lot of young frosh and walk-ons that can fill in if needed until McClure heals up.

Wish Stefan the best on Twitter.

Tweet Comment 26 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Wow, that sounds horrific.

"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark

by carp on Dec 1, 2011 12:04 AM PST reply actions

damn. that sucks for stefan. hope he gets well as soon as possible.

by j.lee on Dec 1, 2011 12:09 AM PST reply actions

Horrible news. He showed a lot of promise in his freshman campaign. Feel terrible for the kid. I hope he heals up and comes back better than ever.

by daveman on Dec 1, 2011 12:16 AM PST reply actions

This is horrible news.

It’s gonna take a year to recover, and he could lose some speed.
Hopefully he can stay positive and return in 2013 as featured star of defense loaded with talent

by JustBear on Dec 1, 2011 12:39 AM PST reply actions

One of the young shining lights of a young defense next year

has started to fade and probably has winked out of existence.

Stefan, please get better soon, injuries are never fun. We want you as soon as your healthy and ready to move on the field, and not any time sooner.

"Our hearts shall sing and our voices ring for the dear old Blue and Gold!"

by Joe Bandsmen on Dec 1, 2011 12:57 AM PST reply actions

His twitter bio says

“I got two things on my mind God and making it to the League.” Injury or not, Stephan please add ‘school’ to the list of things on your mind. Best of luck in your recovery.

by JoeCarr on Dec 1, 2011 6:24 AM PST reply actions

Terrible

This is really terrible. He looked really good this year and seemed poised to become a mainstay on our D. Here’s hoping he makes a quick recovery.

by unclesam22 on Dec 1, 2011 7:04 AM PST reply actions

Damn.

You might as well have said that his entire knee was destroyed. That is one really horrible injury.

Hopefully the doctors will make a complete repair and Stefan will do better in rehab than expected. And even if he never plays another snap, at least he’ll end up being able to walk.

Being an Old Blue means embracing the "meh".

by SoCal Oski on Dec 1, 2011 7:11 AM PST reply actions

No reason to be so down on this — enough people get this injury that it has a name: the unhappy triad. His football career depends on his drive to rehad, but he’ll definitely be able to walk and run.

by I hate $C on Dec 1, 2011 8:47 AM PST up reply actions

Shaun Livingston of the Clippers basically had this, except he had an additional crack on his knee cap, and it was basically career ending.

by mrjpark on Dec 1, 2011 1:28 PM PST up reply actions

Tough news for the kid, I wish McClure a full recovery. I hope he takes his time to come back and doesn’t rush it.

I didn’t even see the play when he got hurt, does anyone know how this happened? Was his leg rolled up on in a tackle?

I don’t get the picture of the Duck player?

by SDBear on Dec 1, 2011 7:45 AM PST via mobile reply actions

Check out 2nd quarter with 2:59 to go on the kickoff (ASU game). He’s running down and as he engages his block, he just crumples to the ground. IMO, looks like it’s a completely non-contact injury, one of those where he just steps completely wrong with his right leg. Knee injuries are funny things — sometimes they look horrific, and other times the look so incidental and slight.

by I hate $C on Dec 1, 2011 8:39 AM PST up reply actions

And somewhere, duck fans are booing it …

Being an Old Blue means embracing the "meh".

by SoCal Oski on Dec 1, 2011 9:43 AM PST up reply actions

Haha, the same thought goes through my head whenever the a non-obvious injury takes place.

by I hate $C on Dec 1, 2011 10:02 AM PST up reply actions

My daughter's soccer team...

…..is doing exercises to strengthen knees to avoid ACL tears which, apparently, commonly happen (in soccer anyway) in a non-contact situation. The interiors of our knees are “naturally” stronger than the outside and when we/they plant and cut in a different direction that action results in tears (I guess you can assign BOTH meanings to that last word….).

You know he was thinking, “But I’ve done this SAME MOVE a thousand times….why now?” Wish I knew the answer.

I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.

by BTown85 on Dec 1, 2011 9:47 AM PST up reply actions

Like everyone here is saying this is just terrible news for this young man. I wish Stefan a full recovery soon! Don’t worry about next season.

Bring back the Pac-10!!!

by calas on Dec 1, 2011 7:48 AM PST reply actions

Poor guy

He was a PCL tear away from a full-blown kneesplosion. I wish him the best, as he is going to have a long road to recovery. I wonder if he’ll end up redshirting next season…

"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach

by Berkelium97 on Dec 1, 2011 8:46 AM PST reply actions

So I guess I had a kneesplosion?

I tore much of all three ligaments in one injury to my right knee, and then separately damaged the meniscus in that same knee. The recovery is long, but could be considerably less than a year. For the record the only surgery I ever had was to remove a flap tear in the meniscus, you can read my whole surgery report here: http://kaplanfx.tumblr.com/post/82028060/knee-procedure

Here is a choice comment regarding the status of my ACL & PCL: “There was definite elongation and intrasubstance tearing of the posterior cruciate ligament. It did not take up tension well. The anterior cruciate ligament appeared to have a few fibers left, that seemed to take up some tension with the Lachman’s maneuver. However, the majority of the anterior cruciate ligament was not taking up tension well.”

And for the record, without even having repair, I am able to walk, run, lift weights and play sports. Granted I was never a top level athlete, but the prognosis for this injury should be pretty good.

-kap

by kaplanfx on Dec 1, 2011 10:17 AM PST up reply actions

Sounds painful. Happy to hear you were able to recover.

In the Game of Trolls, you either troll or you die.
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs: Read It | Follow It | Like It | Wear It

by TwistNHook on Dec 1, 2011 10:32 AM PST up reply actions

How did you sustain the injury? I’m glad the recovery went well, especially since you did not have them repaired.

"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach

by Berkelium97 on Dec 1, 2011 10:39 AM PST up reply actions

The ACL & PCL were torn and the MCL was stretched playing flag football (I know, right?) in college about a decade ago. It’s funny, I played 4 years of High School football and was never injured. Anyway I was trying to pull the QB’s flag and he fell over and a guy on my own team coming the other way flew through the air and hit me square in the knee, hyper-extending it. We both heard a loud pop, and they took me straight to the emergency room.

My surgeon thinks the meniscus injuries happened in small bits over time. What prompted me to go in and see him was just from stopping short while coming in for a pop-up from center field in softball. My knee just totally gave out and didn’t get better for a few days so I went in.

-kap

by kaplanfx on Dec 1, 2011 4:24 PM PST up reply actions

This is Sad

I can only hope he makes a full recovery. As others have said here, he was looking really good on the field; I wish him the best.

Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?

by Cugel on Dec 1, 2011 8:53 AM PST reply actions

Shit. The human race needs to design a better knee. Sqats man, squats – but with proper form, or you’ll be “proper fucked”.

Good luck with the recovery – hopefully the new SAHPC will be more effective with the rehab.

by fuzzywuzzy on Dec 1, 2011 9:54 AM PST reply actions

wishin you a speedy recovering stefan. take your time.

get off me bandwagoners!
Clean Cut Media

by cleancutmedia on Dec 1, 2011 12:01 PM PST reply actions

Ugh that sounds horrific

Wish you a speedy recovery!

In other words, Go Bears!

by royrules22 on Dec 1, 2011 12:03 PM PST reply actions

man that sucks…hope his recovery is quick.

The odds of Cal winning are inversely proportional to the odds of Cal winning.

by Spazzy Mcgee on Dec 1, 2011 3:27 PM PST reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Recent FanPosts

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Golden Bears Football Schedule

Fresno St.	Sat 09/03	W 36 - 21
@ Colorado The Ralphie Report	Sat 09/10	W 36 - 33
Presbyterian	Sat 09/17	W 63 - 12
@ Washington UW Dawg Pound	Sat 09/24	L 23 - 31
@ Oregon Addicted To Quack	Thu 10/06	L 15 - 43
USC Conquest Chronicles	Thu 10/13	L 9 - 30
Utah Block U	Sat 10/22	W 34 - 10
@ UCLA Bruins Nation	Sat 10/29	L 14 - 31
Washington St. CougCenter	Sat 11/05	W 30 - 7
Oregon St. Building The Dam	Sat 11/12	W 23 - 6
@ Stanford Rule Of Tree	Sat 11/19	L 28 - 31
@ Arizona St. House Of Sparky	Fri 11/25	W 47 - 38
@ Texas Burnt Orange Nation	Wed 12/28	L 10 - 21