Step, step, hit. It was the rhythm of a routine play for New Orleans Saints linebacker Jim Kovach, one that he was following with his usual precision during the second game of the 1985 season. As Broncos quarterback John Elway handed the ball off to a fullback, Kovach took two steps and lowered his shoulder into the 270-pound offensive guard whose job it was to keep him away from the action. Step, step, hit . . . pop.
The 230-pound Kovach felt a pop in his left knee as his body crashed into the guard. Back on the sideline, trainers prodded and pulled on his leg in an attempt to diagnose the injury. Kovach had completed medical school by attending classes and interning during the previous six off seasons, so he well understood what was wrong. He had torn a knee ligament called the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Had he known then what he knows now—that he’s genetically predisposed to soft-tissue injuries such as ACL tears—he might have trained differently and perhaps avoided the injury, at least that day. As it was, the tear soon ended his football career.
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