Modern Comeback:Drew Brees
In 2005, the QB underwent minimally invasive surgery for his torn-up shoulder and returned to the gridiron in six months to lead the league in passing yardsa€"and the New Orleans Saints to the playoffs. Future Fix:Repairing the elbow's simple, single-ligament hinge is a breeze compared with reassembling the dozen muscles that run through the shoulder joint. A career-ender just five years ago, a torn rotator cuff is now repairable (although most pitchers lose some velocity), thanks to better arthroscopic tools and clearer visualizations of the injury with MRI, CT and PET scanners. But the best medicine is keeping players off the operating table in the first place. A few Major League baseball teams are commissioning biomechanical evaluations of their pitchers' throwing motion using motion-capture technology and joint-load calculations. Early results have revealed that pitchers whose delivery exceeds their shoulder's peak force load don't last long in the majors, and coaches have started using this data to tweak the bad habits of healthy players.