Eric Berry has a Haglund’s deformity on his heel

[DaFace]

Yes, it's in the other thread. Bite me.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2018/...ty-on-his-heel

REPORT: Eric Berry has a Haglund’s deformity on his heel
New information on Berry’s sore heel injury emerged on Saturday.
By Pete Sweeney Sep 29, 2018, 1:15pm CDT

Eric Berry has not practiced or played for the Kansas City Chiefs since August 11 in St. Joseph, Missouri, because of what the team has described as a “sore heel.”

The last we heard from the Chiefs athletic training staff was in early September, when head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder described the injury as “literally day to day.”

More information on Berry’s injury emerged Saturday morning, via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo:

Mike Garafolo: “My understanding, and I’ve spoken to people familiar with his injury situation. He’s got what’s called a Haglund’s deformity in that Achilles. That’s a bone spur that basically digs into the Achilles. Shaun O’ Hara, our colleague at NFL Network, he had it. I spoke to him this week. He said it is extremely painful. He actually used a more colorful word that I won’t use here. It’s just something that continues to irritate the area. Some guys have been able to play with it—you get a shoe here or there, you can adjust … but that’s what’s going on. It’s going to be a pain management thing. It’s not like this thing will tear the Achilles necessarily. A lot of these cases don’t result in a tear, but that’s why with Berry right now, he has not played, and they’ve been doing OK. That’s going to allow them a little bit more patience with Berry, but it is extremely painful.”

This provides a little more clarity than Berry’s injury simply being a “sore heel,” which is good, but what’s bad is there still seems to be no timetable. Remember, Berry missed nearly the entirety of the 2017 season due to a ruptured Achilles on the other leg.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was mum on the injury when asked about it Saturday afternoon after the Chiefs’ final practice of the week.

Berry is officially ruled doubtful heading into the Monday night game against the Denver Broncos.

----

Here are the notes from our in-house medical expert, Aaron Borgmann:

A lot of talk today regarding something known as a Haglund’s deformity. It was reported by a media source that the player in question suffers from this condition. This discussion is not to confirm or deny that possibility, as I can only explain the available information that we have been given. To be clear, the team has not confirmed this diagnosis and I have no advance knowledge of the player’s current condition.

The simple explanation here that it is indeed a bone spur on the backside of someone’s heel. This is frequently known as a “pump bump” from the occurrence that it is often seen in women’s fashion from the shoes that they wear. However, incidence in football players is also common, sometimes referred to as “retrocalcaneal bursitis” as well.

The bone spur irritates the bursa (fluid-filled sac) that sits between the bone and the tendon or even the tendon itself directly. This can cause a great deal of inflammation and discomfort with any sort of dynamic ankle/foot movement, worse with pressure on the spot itself.

Having one in and of itself it not uncommon, but the degree to which it bothers someone is the issue. Depending upon demands of movement, these can range from debilitating to just a nuisance. Obviously, in football players, the degree of inflammation is what dictates the level of function.

These are diagnosed both visually and radiographically and it is a situation where if you see it and player complains of certain symptoms (pain with movement in that exact spot, swelling, redness) then you can be pretty sure that is what it is.

Treatment focuses on reduction of inflammation obviously directly over the spot. This can be done both topically and through systemic medication. Soft tissue lengthening in both the calf and bottom of the foot is also done to alleviate the issue from both sides – this is due to the fact that both the calf and plantar fascia connect to the calcaneus (heel bone) on either side.

Not to be forgotten is footwear modification and adjustment. Very rigid shoes can cause this irritation, and in some athletes, I would even cut the shoe in the heel to allow room for the bump. Other options include specialized padding and friction reduction methods. Heel lifts have been shown to be helpful in some.

For this condition, non-surgical intervention is preferred to reduce the inflammation as opposed to surgical due to the immobilization period.

If the inflammation can be reduced and the function level high, many players learned to adapt their daily routines to accommodate. They may have to put in a bit more time in order to get ready due to the condition’s demands but can nonetheless get by and still perform at a high level.

[Eleazar]

Everything else aside, it's crazy how Berry went from being a borderline diety with the fan base on CP to a pariah in just a few weeks

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Everything else aside, it's crazy how Berry went from being a borderline diety with the fan base on CP to a pariah in just a few weeks

In my defense, I've been riding him since he responded to the team giving him millions they didn't have to by waging a public smear campaign against them and then refusing to report to camp until he got (another) record contract.

My frustrations with Berry go back to how he and his camp handled their contract situation. That was seriously bush league by him and yes, it put him in a far different light for me.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

No, the problem is he isn't playing and he's taking up a roster spot. The rest isn't important.

Why is that an issue? 5 players sit every game and don't dress out. He isn't keeping anyone off the field.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Everything else aside, it's crazy how Berry went from being a borderline diety with the fan base on CP to a pariah in just a few weeks

That's what a De-formity will do for a fella.

It's sad as all get all, the way folks are treating poor EB. I mean, the man has a deformity. A DEFORMITY, for crying out loud. If these critics had a child with a deformity, would they be saying, "Get your butt out there, you lazy, punk-ass child! And stop that whining about your deformity!"

I think not.

FAX

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by FAX

That's what a De-formity will do for a fella.

It's sad as all get all, the way folks are treating poor EB. I mean, the man has a deformity. A DEFORMITY, for crying out loud. If these critics had a child with a deformity, would they be saying, "Get your butt out there, you lazy, punk-ass child! And stop that whining about your deformity!"

I think not.

FAX

They might if their child got paid $25 million the past 2 years to do absolutely nothing.

[stevieray]

...be Berry Berry quiet, I'm hunting for a safety.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

In my defense, I've been riding him since he responded to the team giving him millions they didn't have to by waging a public smear campaign against them and then refusing to report to camp until he got (another) record contract.

My frustrations with Berry go back to how he and his camp handled their contract situation. That was seriously bush league by him and yes, it put him in a far different light for me.

Hali, DJ, and even Houston all handled it much better.

So much is made of Berry’s character, you expect him to be more like those guys, especially after how the organization treated him in the past.

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Everything else aside, it's crazy how Berry went from being a borderline diety with the fan base on CP to a pariah in just a few weeks

That's what happens when you are dealing with make-believe. Sports might as well be pro wrestling, it doesn't really mean anything. If the Chiefs win or lose, it doesn't mean anything unless fans make it mean something.

Eric Berry goes from football god to money-grubbing heel because the fans say so. Hulk Hogan goes from Hulkamaniac to NWO for fan entertainment.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

They might if their child got paid $25 million the past 2 years to do absolutely nothing.

Posts like this make it very easy to see where the anger comes from.

Jealousy is a mean bitch.

[Chris Meck]

I'm not hating on the guy. I just doubt he'll ever play meaningful football again. I think it's a mistake to be thinking he ever will. I've mentally moved on is all.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Hali, DJ, and even Houston all handled it much better.

So much is made of Berry’s character, you expect him to be more like those guys, especially after how the organization treated him in the past.

And that's why I did such a hard turn. For everything that was said about the guy and after he had teammates in big time contract situations of their own, for him to go out and handle it the most poorly of all of them BY FAR just pissed me off.

It's the apostates that always get it the worst, right? Nobody hates someone more than the one they thought was different from the rest. A heel turn will make you more angry at someone than you'd have ever been had they started down that path from the start. So to spend literal years seeing him held out as a paragon of virtue; a model teammate and someone who loves this city and this organization for everything they've meant to him....to have that and then find out he's the most cutthroat mercenary of them all?

I said it a week ago - I'll full acknowledge that I may not be wholly rational in this one, but that's never going to sit right with me and it's due in large part to the sin of apostasy.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Posts like this make it very easy to see where the anger comes from.

Jealousy is a mean bitch.

Pay the man his $25 million and take the cap impact off the books and ask how many of these people would still care.

What a dipshit response. I don't give a large rat **** about how much money these guys make or what they do with it. Why should I? It was never mine.

But the bottom line is that every dollar Eric Berry has failed to earn as a player is a dollar that could've been put towards a player that WILL produce for this team. It's a dollar that could've been rolled over and applied to an extension. It isn't jealousy, as much as some of you'd like to pat yourself on the back for being such an enlightened soul. It's nothing more than simple cap math.

The only reason the raw dollar values mean anything at all to me is that there comes a point when you've reached 'eh, **** it' money. You've now made enough that no amount of poor investments or luxury spending is likely to ever see you needing to work again. When a person reaches that point, he's just less likely to carry the same edge as he previously did. The only reason EB's take home pay matters is because I'm fairly certain his last contract brought him to that point. So that money that's going to him has served the dual purpose of NOT going to players that could've helped and actually set about discouraging him from helping the team himself.

I ask again because so far nobody's answered - if this were 2016, do you think he'd be sitting out right now? I do not. It's not jealousy talking, it's a simple admission of human frailty.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Posts like this make it very easy to see where the anger comes from.

Jealousy is a mean bitch.

It's not jealousy. His salary, or the salary of any athlete for that matter, I so far out of the realm of what I'll ever make that it'd be silly to be jealous.

My anger is the amount of the salary cap he is eating up for zero production.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Why is that an issue? 5 players sit every game and don't dress out. He isn't keeping anyone off the field.

Well put me on the roster then and pay me millions since it simply means I get paid and it doesn't keep anybody off the field.

Great gig man...

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Pay the man his $25 million and take the cap impact off the books and ask how many of these people would still care.

What a dipshit response. I don't give a large rat **** about how much money these guys make or what they do with it. Why should I? It was never mine.

But the bottom line is that every dollar Eric Berry has failed to earn as a player is a dollar that could've been put towards a player that WILL produce for this team. It's a dollar that could've been rolled over and applied to an extension. It isn't jealousy, as much as some of you'd like to pat yourself on the back for being such an enlightened soul. It's nothing more than simple cap math.

The only reason the raw dollar values mean anything at all to me is that there comes a point when you've reached 'eh, **** it' money. You've now made enough that no amount of poor investments or luxury spending is likely to ever see you needing to work again. When a person reaches that point, he's just less likely to carry the same edge as he previously did. The only reason EB's take home pay matters is because I'm fairly certain his last contract brought him to that point. So that money that's going to him has served the dual purpose of NOT going to players that could've helped and actually set about discouraging him from helping the team himself.

I ask again because so far nobody's answered - if this were 2016, do you think he'd be sitting out right now? I do not. It's not jealousy talking, it's a simple admission of human frailty.

Exactly

I've also said I can't totally fault him for his selfish attitude about everything. I imagine my priorities would change too if I survived cancer. He's totally within his right to think for himself before anything else.

But he's made more than enough money at this point and this is a business. He's highly unlikely to ever come close to living up to his contract. I'm not sure what options they have under the CBA, but negotiating an injury settlement or putting Berry on the NFI should be considered. The team simply can't afford to continue paying someone who probably will never be able to perform at a high level again, or is unwilling to do so.