ACL Injuries Taking Over Purdue’s Athletic Department

 The Boiling Point: Purdue fans have seen far too many star athletes fall victim to an ACL injury.

Well, once again on Wednesday, the ACL is wreaking havoc in Purdue’s athletic department and in Purdue fans’ hearts. Starting Purdue quarterback Rob Henry suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire season. It’s the second time in a year the Boilers have seen their No. 1 QB suffer the same fate.

The ACL injury has ravaged the football team in recent years, but it hasn’t been isolated to just one sport. The ACL is taking over Purdue’s entire athletic department. Since Purdue basketball star Robbie Hummel went down with the injury in February 2010, 10 Boilers have suffered the same injury. Henry is the 10th.

But even a couple years leading up to Hummel’s injury, it seemed that the ACL tears knocked out the biggest sports stars on Purdue’s campus. Here are the big-time athletes who suffered a torn ACL since 2005. (Not included in this list is a series of four ACL tears that hit the volleyball team in 2007-08.)

"Ralph Bolden, football running backRob Henry, football, quarterbackRobbie Hummel, basketball, forward (tore ACL twice at Purdue)Robert Marve, football, quarterbackCarl Landry, basketball, forwardDavid Teague, basketball, guardKK Houser, women’s basketball, guardKeith Smith, football, wide receiverJaycen Taylor, football, running backLindsay Wisdom-Hylton, women’s basketball, forward"

The Lafayette Journal & Courier did a report on the rash of injuries and Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke expressed some concern about the recent spike in the injury.

"“If you look at the current time frame, it’s out of whack. If you look at the longer time frame, it’s not. OK, that makes good sense,” Burke told the J&C. “But I’m sitting here saying, Hummel, KK Houser – you keep going through the list. I understand what the statistics say, but I’m still concerned.”"

Apparently, Henry’s ACL tear was a non-contact injury, which many ACL injuries are, and he even left practice without much knowledge of the damage. For now, it appears the No. 1 QB is Caleb TerBush, who hasn’t taken a college snap.