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.
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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. [Reply]
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.
Yes I think he is sitting right now if its 2016 because if he goes out and pops another Achilles he isn't getting jack shit for a contract that way either.
The guy just went through Achilles rehab, do you think that means nothing?
And the money means jack shit, we didn't not sign someone this offseason because of Berry's contract and the fact we were about to trade for Earl Thomas confirms that as fact.
And its also fact many fans bitch about hurt players contracts because they are jealous of the money. Don't act like thats a stupid concept, its not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
Yes I think he is sitting right now if its 2016 because if he goes out and pops another Achilles he isn't getting jack shit for a contract that way either.
The guy just went through Achilles rehab, do you think that means nothing?
And the money means jack shit, we didn't not sign someone this offseason because of Berry's contract and the fact we were about to trade for Earl Thomas confirms that as fact.
And its also fact many fans bitch about hurt players contracts because they are jealous of the money. Don't act like thats a stupid concept, its not.
It's a stupid concept. It's absolutely a stupid concept.
Breeland Speaks is going to make more money in his rookie deal than most of us will ever see in our lives. Jesus, Dorian O'Daniel probably will. Phillip Gaines has nearly $3 million in career earnings and was effectively set for life by 26 years old if he just hired a halfway decent financial advisor.
These guys all make so much more money than us, even the 'cheap' ones, that the idea that the average fan harbors resentment towards the super rich guys any more than the ones that are simply rich by any other conventional measure is laughable. How many people bitched about Gaines because he had a nicer house than they do? None - they bitched about him because he wasn't good. And if we'd have signed a bust of a CB in FA, people wouldn't have been pissed because after already being richer than we are, he now gets to add another wing to his vacation home. No, they'd be pissed because the player we DIDN'T get with his salary space could've been better than him and won us more games.
It's their salary's impact on the team that is a problem for all but the most miserable bastards in the fanbase. Your position here is a stupid Soren Petro hot take; the kind of nonsense that Petro would spew whenever he didn't feel superior enough that day.
It's not jealousy - if it were jealousy there's nobody but the 5th round special teamer who blew out his knee in camp and had to pack groceries for a living that we wouldn't be jealous of. It's simple opportunity cost.
As for the idea that Berry didn't impact our signings - that's ridiculous. The fact that we didn't go into the FA market with $7 million in cap space says NOTHING about whether or not we'd have gone into the market if we had in excess of $20 million in cap space. Berry's contract has absolutely interfered with this team's ability to upgrade elsewhere on the roster. It's naive as hell to suggest otherwise. [Reply]
The contract is an unqualified disaster and it's very possibly what got Dorsey fired. The way this organization treated Dorsey's handling of that situation has always been chickenshit. The mere possibility of PR backlash (for what was an eminently sensible approach from Dorsey) led to Dorsey getting hurled under the bus.
The biggest mistake Dorsey ever made was not simply yanking Berry's franchise tag the moment he refused to report. That deal is going to go down as the worst in Chiefs history.
Amen to every bit of this. I get mad as fuck when I read people posting that Dorsey is some colossal idiot when it comes to contracts when in this case he wasn't even allowed to use HIS fucking work in the matter.
Had I been Dorsey, I would have given Berry a lesson in what happens when you take the advice of an intractable, idiot fucking agent incapable of keeping the details of the negotiations between the negotiating parties. I would have told him straight-up "go try your luck in the market and get back to me".
And why the fuck not? Every other team out there would have approached the deal in the same manner unless they wanted to live recklessly and take the chance that everything would be 100% going forward. And there probably would be, just based on Berry being Berry as a player as well as picking up a nice PR story.
But in the long run...
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 a huge part of it, Staylor. Every fan wanted things to be well and good with Eric. Every fan was invested in him both before and after he came out on top in his battle with cancer. Every fan had no problem with the Chiefs paying him that extra cash while he was undergoing treatment. And finally, every fan was willing to sacrifice John Dorsey on the altar of Molech when it was perceived that he was being an impediment to getting Berry signed long term.
And then we find out the other side of the story AFTER the smoke has cleared and we've lost the most workaholic and football passionate GM the franchise has had in decades to fucking Cleveland, and the fans are rightfully pissed.
So now, the metaphorical leash is much shorter for Berry, for the Chiefs, and for expectations going forward. Nothing short of a timely return to the field coupled with consistent all-pro play and leadership is going to BEGIN to restore the trust and support given to Berry by the fans and the franchise.
It is what it is. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
That movies grown on me quite a bit with with the advent of the MCU. The leaps of logic that once bothered me now feel quite grounded, lol.
The Chargers are expecting Bosa back in a few weeks. Bosa had an actual injury and was in a walking boot. He seems motivated to come back and help their defense. Meanwhile, we're stuck with Berry and the neverending day-to-day bullshit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
The Chargers are expecting Bosa back in a few weeks. Bosa had an actual injury and was in a walking boot. He seems motivated to come back and help their defense. Meanwhile, we're stuck with Berry and the neverending day-to-day bullshit.
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
Dude, if Berry makes his inevitable return and Bob Sanders us to a playoff run, you already have your movie for that incredible RTC piece.
I'll accept that. I don't consider what Berry currently has to be an actual injury. It might just be semantics, but this is more of an ongoing condition that he can choose to play through if he can stomach the pain. For $15 million a year he better damn well be in crutches or a wheelchair for me to believe he shouldn't be pushing through the pain. [Reply]
