Missouri Linebacker May Seek Medical Redshirt Following Surgery

The following story was posted at my page at Examiner.com on Tuesday, so it's a tad outdated, at least to the more passionate of Missouri Tiger fans. But, I thought it would be informative nonetheless:

When he signed a letter of intent late last year, it seemed to be not a question of if, but when, linebacker Josh Tatum would land a starting job on the retooled Missouri defense. Unfortunately for Tatum, however, there's uncertainty whether he'll be playing at all in 2009.

Head coach Gary Pinkel told reporters following Monday's morning practice that Tatum may be forced to apply for a medical redshirt that would prevent him from playing this season as the Tigers attempt to replace seven starters on defense.

Josh Tatum is likely to seek a medical redshirt for 2009

Tatum, currently listed as the Tigers' No. 3 weakside linebacker, underwent back surgery in May and has yet to participate in preseason camp, which began last week.

"The problem with him right now that the doctors are concerned about is he hasn’t lifted weights for four months. He hasn’t done anything," Pinkel told the Columbia Daily Tribune. "You just can’t run out there after having back surgery not prepared and go against 310-pound offensive linemen when your bench press has dropped 40 pounds. So, I don’t know. We’re going to have to see how that unfolds. … There’s a possibility we could redshirt him. His health is most important."

Though Tatum will have to appeal for the redshirt, the likelihood he will be turned down is nearly non-existent.

Under NCAA rules, as they pertain to medical redshirts—which are technically referred to as "hardship waivers"—Missouri team physicians will have to provide documentation that shows that Tatum's procedure prevented him from playing in no more than two games— or less than 20 percent—of the Tigers' 2009 schedule.

Factor into the equation that Tatum is still just a novice at grasping Missouri's new 4-3 defensive scheme, and the upcoming season appears to be a total wash for the heralded linebacker.

Tatum, who initially injured his back during spring practices, is certainly no stranger to sitting out the course of a season due to injury. A highly touted prospect of Pete Carroll's 2006 recruiting class at USC, Tatum, a native of Oakland, Ca., redshirted during his freshman season while rehabbing a knee injury suffered in high school.

Buried on the Trojans' depth chart, Tatum exercised his second and third years of NCAA eligibility as a standout linebacker at City College of San Francisco, where he amassed 120 tackles, seven sacks, seven pass break-ups, and an interception as a JUCO All-American in 2008.

If granted his medical redshirt, Tatum would still have two seasons of eligibility with the Tigers.

The minute Tatum announced his decision to attend Missouri back in December, countless fans (this one included) began salivating over the possibility of his talents joining forces with those of preseason All-American Sean Weatherspoon as part of the team's promising unit of linebackers.

An impressive package of speed and power, the 6'0", 240-pound Tatum, who received offers from Michigan, Miami (Fl.), California, and Tennessee during his initial recruiting process, garnered more hype when his finished his two-year stint in junior college. Courted by such teams as Arizona, Oregon, and Kansas, Tatum seemed excited about his opportunity to contribute at Missouri—a school he says he favored to returning to his former team.

“I could have gone back to USC if I had wanted to,” Tatum said earlier this year. “I wanted to go somewhere I could make the most of the two years I have left. I wanted to choose a winning program that was going to contend on the national level, somewhere I could come in and make an immediate difference at, that’s why I chose Missouri.”