James Andrews (born May 2, 1942) is an American

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He is a surgeon for knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries and is a specialist in repairing damaged

ligaments A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

. Practicing in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Andrews has become one of the best-known and most popular orthopedic surgeons and has performed on many high-profile athletes. He also is the team doctor for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

, and

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

Career and education

Andrews received his undergraduate and medical degrees from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where he was an athlete, winning a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Championship in

polevaulting Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. He completed his residency at Tulane Medical School and completed fellowships at the

University of Virginia School of Medicine The University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA SoM) is the graduate medical school of the University of Virginia. The school's facilities are on the University of Virginia grounds adjacent to Academical Village in Charlottesville, Virginia. ...

and the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: ...

. Andrews is known for performing

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

on high-profile athletes from a wide array of sports. Andrews has co-founded or chaired multiple research bodies and medical centers, including the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and the Andrews Research and Education Foundation. He created the HealthSouth Sports Medicine Council and was behind the

Go For It! Roadshow Encompass Health Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the United States' largest providers of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based post-acute services in 36 states and Puerto Rico through its ...

. He serves on the medical advisory board for Tenex Health, Inc., a medical device company that manufactures and markets the Tenex Health TX System for the treatment of chronic tendon and fascia pain.

Notable patients

Andrews has performed surgery on many high-profile athletes. He first became known among athletes when

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

' agent advised the pitcher to visit Andrews in 1985. Andrews provided a second opinion to team doctors, performed a successful surgery on a torn labrum, and Clemens made a full recovery. Andrews would gain a reputation as an "athlete-centric" doctor, operating on athletes including

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

Chris Godwin Rod Christopher Godwin Jr. (born February 27, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Buccaneers in the th ...

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During hi ...

Marcus Lattimore Marcus Lattimore (born October 29, 1991) is a former American football running back. He played college football at South Carolina, where he holds the career record for rushing touchdowns (38). He rushed for 1,197 yards as a starter during his fre ...

, and

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

References

External links

Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic CenterAndrews InstituteDr. Stephen Courtney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, James 1942 births Living people American orthopedic surgeons American sports physicians Physicians from Birmingham, Alabama People from Mountain Brook, Alabama LSU Tigers track and field athletes Tulane University School of Medicine alumni People from Homer, Louisiana