Meet Dr. James Andrews: The Man Who Operates On Your Favorite Player

In the last two decades, Dr. James Andrews became the de facto orthopaedic surgeon to sports stars everywhere. His name is synonymous with sports surgery, as is his location in Birmingham, Alabama. Now Fast Company takes you inside the operating room with the man who fixed Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Drew Brees, Roger Clemens, Bo Jackson, and pretty much any other famous athlete you can think of who has been injured. Meet Dr. James Andrews.

If you could assemble a superstar, Frankenstein-style, from Andrews's patients, it would have repaired knees from quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb; a hip from dual-sports sensation Bo Jackson; shoulders from Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley; and elbows from the New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte and the Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood. "I've always liked fixing people," Andrews says. "I want to get these athletes back to doing what they did before."

Andrews is 66, owns a private jet and his own minor league baseball team, brings in $60 million in revenue every year, was once an SEC champion pole-vaulter at LSU, and greets every athlete, no matter how famous or talented, by saying, "Hey, big man." Some great paragraphs from an article you absolutely have to read.

Because Andrews treats players on nearly every team and in nearly every sport, his reach is greater than that of any athlete, coach, or even commissioner. The totality of his work — redirecting careers, changing the fortunes of teams, even cities — makes a compelling case that he's one of the most influential figures in all of sports.

How much money has Andrews made for players by extending their careers?

Only a fraction of his patients have been identified in published reports. In an analysis of 40 baseball players who are known patients and whose salaries could be obtained, Andrews's career-extending work has led them to garner almost $1.3 billion in guaranteed money. Ten NFL quarterbacks whom Andrews treated went on to secure more than $333 million in contracts. "Doc saved my career," says Brees, one of those QBs. "What he was able to do with my shoulder was truly amazing."

Read the article. Even though it's long and Fast Company has broken it up into 9 pages without a view all pages tab. Bill the time to "legal research regarding advanced procedures." Thank me later. The most valuable player in sports: James Andrews [Fast Company] Meet James Andrews [My Hogtown]