Hearsay and conjecture are kinds of evidence | by Pat

The eagle eyes award of the week goes to IrishEyes poster tejen, who spotted the following mention in an article on star surgeon James Andrews.

Included on the schedule this day was a 47-year-old attorney who had blown out his shoulder during an amateur baseball tournament. There was an incoming freshman quarterback who needed a quick elbow repair in time for the start of next season. And a 14-year-old pitcher from Florida who already had blown out his elbow and was facing a Tommy John transplant far too soon in life.

Putting aside the awful fact that a 14 year old had to already resort to Tommy John surgery, it sounds like Jimmy Clausen might have paid a visit to the Alabama offices of one Dr. Andrews. Most sports fans should recognize the name of one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world and the man attached to the off-season surgeries of a laundry list of professional athletes. If Clausen is indeed the mystery freshman quarterback mentioned in the article, and to be fair there's a decent chance it's not him, then it's good news that he was able to have his work done by one of the best in the business. It also possibly answers the question as to why it took so long to get the surgery done -- the article says the work was done on June 5th -- as I'm sure Dr. Andrews' appointment book is rather booked.

We'll still have to wait and see if Clausen really is ready to go for the start of the fall practice, but the tone of the mention in this article (again, assuming the QB in the article actually is Clausen), combined with the statement from ND, lend more support to the fact that at the very least Clausen shouldn't have to sit out all season.