Does The MRSA Still Linger?
July 24th, 2018
“Hey Dirk, the MRSA does in a whole lot more people than just a kicker’s toe. Trust me, I learned the hard way. Now I’m stuck in Columbus!”
Is the MRSA still lingering in the Bucs locker room?
Joe has to ask because of a one-liner buried in a story about former Bucs defensive tackle Clinton McDonald who said he will be ready for training camp in Denver, where he signed in the offseason.
McDonald had previously flunked his physical with the Broncos. Now we know why.
We all know that the MRSA and its outbreak in the Bucs locker room in 2013 may have cost kicker Lawrence Tines his NFL career, may have indirectly led to Bucs coach Greg Schiano’s demise and who knows how it screwed with Johnthan Banks, who contracted the MRSA his rookie year? Interestingly, Banks never played as well as he did his rookie season and is currently out of football (Banks is coaching high school football in Mississippi)
Well, according to long-time Broncos beat guy Mike Klis of 9News.com in Denver, McDonald has been battling an infection in his shoulder since 2015, Klis notes by way of Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com.
McDonald missed the offseason program with a bacterial infection stemming for a 2015 shoulder surgery. He underwent a procedure in New York to drain the infection, per Klis [sic], and Dr. David Altcheck has cleared McDonald.
McDonald was a Bucs player at the time of the shoulder surgery. Now it is not uncommon for someone to become infected in a hospital during surgery. For McDonald to be infected for three years suggests that’s one powerful bacterial infection.
And yes, staph — which MRSA is a form of staph — is a powerful bacteria resistant to antibiotics and other common treatments for infections.
The Bucs, of course, went through a lot of MRSA problems in 2013. Tines was infected and never returned. Guard Carl Nicks had surgery to remove the MRSA from his foot. Nicks never played another snap in the NFL. Banks was infected midway through the season.
Nowhere in Klis’ article does it mention MRSA, but if McDonald was battling this for upwards of three years, just some layman’s common sense suggests it could be staph and/or MRSA.
Joe has no idea if McDonald’s infection is in any way related to the MRSA outbreak in the Bucs locker room in 2013 but it does make Joe wonder.
Hat tip: @Jaykpatel.
July 24th, 2018 at 5:25 am
IT seems more likely to have come from the hospital.I have heard of people
having to undergo repeated hip replacements due to recurring infections.
July 24th, 2018 at 5:57 am
@Joe … “Is the MRSA still lingering in the Bucs locker room?” Since those incidents happened FIVE years ago (2013) it’s fairly doubtful that MRSA is still lingering in the Bucs locker room. Not only was it cleaned meticulously from what I remember reading, but we haven’t had any documented MRSA cases since that time.
Bob’s spot on: “IT seems more likely to have come from the hospital.” Found the article in Denver sources that relates to your story Joe (https://www.9news.com/article/sports/nfl/denver-broncos/after-infection-stemming-from-2015-surgery-broncos-clinton-mcdonald-expected-to-be-cleared-to-play/73-576747796 ) and it sounds to me like Clinton’s doctors were puzzled by what was going on but finally figured it out.
As the article says: “Finally, Dr. David Altchek, a noted sports surgeon from New York, determined McDonald was suffering from a bacterial infection stemming from hardware inserted into his right shoulder/pectoral area during a 2015 surgery.”
What’s amazing to me is that McDonald PLAYED at a reasonably high level through that. Always one of my favorite Bucs … hope he has a great year with Denver.
July 24th, 2018 at 6:19 am
As with other germs, staph and MRSA can survive on some surfaces for hours, days or even months….but not years. While it is possible McDonald was infected in Tampa it is highly unlikely it was from the original MRSA that infected Nicks, Banks & Tines.
July 24th, 2018 at 7:22 am
Yawn…….
July 24th, 2018 at 8:06 am
Worst professional sports franchise on planet earth so nothing should be alarming or surprising
July 24th, 2018 at 8:51 am
Typhoid Mary confirmed.
In “Oh Henry” fashion – it turned out to be good guy Clinton McDonald infecting this team with bad things all along…..
Now that the bubonic plague carrying rat was thrown off the ship – perhaps we can get back to winning around here.
(Just kidding Clinton – hope you recover quickly)
July 24th, 2018 at 9:18 am
Maybe Tynes was rubbing his toes on his shoulder
July 24th, 2018 at 9:23 am
this has to be one of the weirdest offseason in buc history…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES….GO BUCS!!!!
July 24th, 2018 at 11:29 am
Didn’t Winston have surgery on his shoulder too? Oh boy….