J. Richard Steadman, 85, dies; The knees saved countless skiers
A renowned orthopedic surgeon, he has developed innovative techniques for Alpine Olympians. He has also treated football, tennis and baseball stars.
J. Richard Steadman, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who saved the knees - and the careers - of hundreds of Olympic skiers, Premier League footballers and even occasional professional golfers, died Friday at his home in Vail, Colorado. He was 85.
A spokeswoman for the Steadman Clinic, which he founded in 1990, confirmed the death but did not provide a cause.
If you made the trip to Dr. Steadman's clinic in the mountains of Colorado, you'd find an office covered in evidence of his decades of surgical success: signed football jerseys and baseball pennants, autographed photos and simple notes of deep gratitude.
He built his reputation in the 1970s as a medical leader of the United States Ski Team, dealing with Olympians like Phil Mahre, Cindy Nelson and Christin Cooper. After Mahre broke his ankle on a slalom gate during a 1979 World Cup race, Dr. Steadman got to work. Just 11 months later, Mahre won a silver medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Dr. Steadman's fame has extended beyond skiing. Martina Navratilova (tennis) and Greg Norman (golf) trusted him to fix torn knees. Quarterbacks Dan Marino, Joe Montana and John Elway all came to him asking for help. National Basketball Association stars frequented his operating rooms, and he developed a particularly intense following among British football players.
"He's genius saved my career," Alan Shearer, best known for his time as a Newcastle United striker, told The Guardian in 2006. "I decided to travel anywhere in the world to find the man ideal for the job. I can't say enough good things about this guy."
Dr. Steadman was widely considered one of the best orthopedic surgeons of his generation, even though he had tended to shrink from praise.He insisted that he was no better than anyone else and that his secret was the organization he had built around him.
In addition to the clinic, he now ran a non-profit organization known as the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, which tracks his patients' recovery and produces accurate data to help Dr. Steadman and his small team of doctors perfect their craft.
Dr. Steadman was not afraid to push his field in controversial directions. was one of the first orthopedic surgeons to eschew casts in favor of immediate physical therapy, an approach that first sparked received criticism but is now widely accepted, especially for athletes wanting to get back to their game. "css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"At that time, everyone was in a cast except my patients," he said. The Denver Post in 2016. “My patients were moving their ankle right away, their knee right away. I was one step ahead of everyone, because I recognized that just because you moved something doesn't mean it wouldn't heal. In fact, it would heal better. The movement strengthened the tissues.
He has developed new procedures, such as microfracture, a treatment for anterior cruciate ligament injuries in which small cracks are made in the underlying ligament. bone, facilitating cartilage growth and faster recovery.
"We would say, "There's only one place to go, and that's Dr. Steadman," Eva Twardokens, a former member of the US Ski Team and a frequent patient of Dr. Steadman, said in a phone interview. "'He'll put you back on your skis.'"
John Richard Steadman was born on June 4, 1937, in Sherman, Texas, about 60 miles north of from Dallas. His father, Beverly Steadman, was a colonel in the Air Force, and his mother, Mary (Ellis) Steadman, was a homemaker.
His father...
A renowned orthopedic surgeon, he has developed innovative techniques for Alpine Olympians. He has also treated football, tennis and baseball stars.
J. Richard Steadman, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who saved the knees - and the careers - of hundreds of Olympic skiers, Premier League footballers and even occasional professional golfers, died Friday at his home in Vail, Colorado. He was 85.
A spokeswoman for the Steadman Clinic, which he founded in 1990, confirmed the death but did not provide a cause.
If you made the trip to Dr. Steadman's clinic in the mountains of Colorado, you'd find an office covered in evidence of his decades of surgical success: signed football jerseys and baseball pennants, autographed photos and simple notes of deep gratitude.
He built his reputation in the 1970s as a medical leader of the United States Ski Team, dealing with Olympians like Phil Mahre, Cindy Nelson and Christin Cooper. After Mahre broke his ankle on a slalom gate during a 1979 World Cup race, Dr. Steadman got to work. Just 11 months later, Mahre won a silver medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Dr. Steadman's fame has extended beyond skiing. Martina Navratilova (tennis) and Greg Norman (golf) trusted him to fix torn knees. Quarterbacks Dan Marino, Joe Montana and John Elway all came to him asking for help. National Basketball Association stars frequented his operating rooms, and he developed a particularly intense following among British football players.
"He's genius saved my career," Alan Shearer, best known for his time as a Newcastle United striker, told The Guardian in 2006. "I decided to travel anywhere in the world to find the man ideal for the job. I can't say enough good things about this guy."
Dr. Steadman was widely considered one of the best orthopedic surgeons of his generation, even though he had tended to shrink from praise.He insisted that he was no better than anyone else and that his secret was the organization he had built around him.
In addition to the clinic, he now ran a non-profit organization known as the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, which tracks his patients' recovery and produces accurate data to help Dr. Steadman and his small team of doctors perfect their craft.
Dr. Steadman was not afraid to push his field in controversial directions. was one of the first orthopedic surgeons to eschew casts in favor of immediate physical therapy, an approach that first sparked received criticism but is now widely accepted, especially for athletes wanting to get back to their game. "css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"At that time, everyone was in a cast except my patients," he said. The Denver Post in 2016. “My patients were moving their ankle right away, their knee right away. I was one step ahead of everyone, because I recognized that just because you moved something doesn't mean it wouldn't heal. In fact, it would heal better. The movement strengthened the tissues.
He has developed new procedures, such as microfracture, a treatment for anterior cruciate ligament injuries in which small cracks are made in the underlying ligament. bone, facilitating cartilage growth and faster recovery.
"We would say, "There's only one place to go, and that's Dr. Steadman," Eva Twardokens, a former member of the US Ski Team and a frequent patient of Dr. Steadman, said in a phone interview. "'He'll put you back on your skis.'"
John Richard Steadman was born on June 4, 1937, in Sherman, Texas, about 60 miles north of from Dallas. His father, Beverly Steadman, was a colonel in the Air Force, and his mother, Mary (Ellis) Steadman, was a homemaker.
His father...
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