He may have had surgery and during the surgery found more damage and just tried to fix up what they could have by fusing.
However reactivating the injury can cause permanent paralysis or even become fatal and no one is going to risk that
It was Rosier syndrome....a serious but not fatal ailment that occurs when you have an excessive amount of whiplash due to football passes being overthrown and underthrown towards you. Can be aggravated by getting hit at a very high velocity by a 225 pound Safety.
