Cleveland Browns' Orpheus Roye Surgery
Matty Byloos |Aug 20,2007
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 Cleveland Browns' Orpheus Roye Surgery
Matty Byloos
CLEVELAND BROWNS
After leaving Browns camp before the end of the Monday morning practice session this week, it now appears that Cleveland’s veteran defensive tackle Orpheus Roye requires further surgery on his already spotty knee. Roye returned to the practice field later the same day and again on Tuesday, but after complaining about a “clicking” sound over the course of the first week of camp, the Browns have opted for surgery now rather than rest and physical therapy.
Roye’s surgery was set for Thursday as the Browns attempted to jump on the problem without delay; regardless, the team will most likely lose Roye, a veteran stronghold and key contributor on the defensive line, for a significant part of the 2007 season. At 34 years old and with eleven NFL seasons under his belt, Roye’s extraordinary level of durability may finally become a permanent question rather than a guarantee of performance. Though he has shown up to play on Sundays, including making 16 starts in the 2005 season with a career-high 95 tackles, Roye has also complained about pain and aches in his knees for some time now.
In 2006, Roye’s seventh season with the Browns, he started in nine total games at left defensive end, finishing with 38 tackles. Due to his performance, the Browns offered Roye a three-year extension on his contract (through 2009). However, injuries to his shoulder, hamstring and his knee effectively sidelined Roye for the better part of the season, missing seven games and opting for arthroscopic surgery after suffering a knee injury on November 26 in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Browns’ coach Romeo Crennel said Roye’s injury could best be described as loose cartilage in the same knee that required surgery last December, though in a different place this time. It is possible that Roye will live up to his expectation, and return to the Browns’ season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 9th. In the meantime, after the rash of injuries last season that placed fourteen players on injured reserve, the Browns are looking to recent off-season acquisitions Shaun Smith and Robaire Smith (both March 2007), to fill in some gaps on the Browns defensive line that ended the season ranked 29th against the run.
Roye has appeared in 161 games and started 122 of them during his eleven seasons in the NFL. His career totals include 558 tackles, 18 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 recovered fumbles and 4 forced fumbles. In 2005 he led the team with 12 quarterback pressures, and ranked third on the Browns with 3 sacks.
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