Shawne Merriman, proud owner of the “Lights Out” dance which he may or may not have stolen from Scott Hall, told reporters yesterday that he has torn ligaments in his left knee, the posterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments, and has been told more or less by doctors that if he tries to play without undergoing surgery he could be risking his career.

Aside from attempting to play, his two options are reconstructive surgery, which would effectively end any chance of him playing in 2008, or a less-invasive surgery that would allow him to play at some point later on in the season.

“They’ve (doctors) all said the same things about the injury,” he said. “They’re kind of surprised that I’ve been playing with it up to this point.”

Sounds like playing on it shouldn’t even be an option for him now. Some kind of surgery is inevitable by all accounts except for him.

If he doesn’t want to miss the entire season right off the bat, which I completely understand, why hasn’t he already opted for the ‘less-invasive surgery’ right away so he can get back on the field as soon as possible?

Idiot. Speaking of idiots, I enjoyed this quote by Norv Turner:

“Right now, in talking to him, his mind-set is he’s doing everything he can to get ready for Carolina, our opener,” Turner said.

Translation: Shawne speaks, I listen. Quite a leader, that Norv.

Merriman faces tough choice on torn knee ligaments (SignOnSanDiego)