It’s been a long road back for Ken-Yon Rambo, but anyone who knows the veteran receiver out of Ohio State isn’t at all surprised about his single-minded determination to get back on the football field.
Rambo’s 2009 season was cut short by a knee injury so severe that it needed two surgeries. However, from the very first stages of the rehab process, there was never any doubt about Rambo’s desire to return to the lineup.
“I can’t wait for the 2010 season to get started,” said Rambo. “It’s like a renewal for me and I will be back with a vengeance.”
“He’s extremely motivated,” said Stampeders director of medical services Pat Clayton, who guided Rambo along the comeback trail. “In fact, we have to keep a bit of a rein on him or he’ll do too much. We do have to watch him and be careful he doesn’t go beyond the parametres that we’ve set out for his rehabilitation program. But that’s just Ken-Yon. He wants to get back and he wants to contribute. At this point, I don’t have any concerns about his return.”
Rambo was injured during a July 24 game at Vancouver’s BC Place when he was grabbed by the back of the jersey and awkwardly pulled down to the ground. Once the doctors had examined the damage, it was ascertained that Rambo’s season was over.
“He had a number of things that were wrong,” said Clayton. “First of all, we had to go in and fix the torn meniscus and clean the joint out. Then, after some rehabilitation, we went back in six weeks later and did an ACL reconstruction. That type of surgery traditionally is about nine months long (for complete rehabilitation).
“Yeah, he did have a serious knee injury with some complications, but the surgery went extremely well. He’s well on target with his rehabilitation — in fact, just a little bit ahead of where I expected him to be right at the moment. We’re reviewing him on a continual basis and at this point don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be able to return fully.”
That’s music to the ears of the Stamps and their fans. Rambo had a monster season in 2008 with 100 catches for 1,473 yards and eight touchdowns. He was off to a great start in 2009 with 17 catches in just two-and-a-half games when the injury occurred.
“There’s no doubt that there’s two components to this issue,” said Clayton. “One is most certainly the medical and surgical of things, which has all been taken care of and there was some outstanding work done by Dr. Stewart, who is our orthopedic surgeon. The other side is the psychological part of coming back from the injury and that should never be underplayed. Ken-Yon is a very strong-willed person, so I don’t anticipate that to be an issue.”