Friday, February 07, 2014

Nick Collins: Packers Dr. McKenzie "only" doctor to not clear me

In an article recently published by ESPN Wisconsin, former Packers Safety Nick Collins, now a free agent attempting to make a comeback after his neck injury a few years ago, claimed that Packers team Dr. Pat McKenzie was the only doctor he saw that wouldn't medically clear him to play.

“The only doctor that was really unsure was Dr. McKenzie. He wasn’t quite sold on the idea of me playing for the Packers anymore,” Collins said. “That’s not saying that I wasn’t cleared to go nowhere else. I was cleared to go somewhere else. He just wasn’t 100 percent sold on the idea."

Now Collins didn't say exactly how many teams examined him, but still, I'm sensing a little hesitation on McKenzie's behalf here. I mean, if the guy has to admit that you were the only one to not clear him, then you must be acting at least a little differently than everyone else.

1 comment:

Brandon said...

On one hand, I've read elsewhere that Dr. McKenzie is a bit conservative when it comes to clearing players. It came up multiple times while we waited for Aaron Rodgers to return last season.

On the other hand, I don't see why Dr. McKenzie's medical clearance has kept Collins off an NFL roster for the last two seasons. If he's the only doctor who didn't think Collins should play again, why has no other NFL team made any attempt to sign a free agent, former three time Pro Bowl safety, who was still under age 30?