Football Player Hines Ward is missing an ACL in his knee. Why is the ACL important?

When I watch sports, I know that when you tear your ACL, it means you should be out at least a year. So according to Wikipedia, it says this "When he came out of college it was discovered that Ward was missing an ACL in his left knee, which he lost during a bicycle accident during childhood".

So if he is able to play fine without an ACL, then how is this ligament so important for sports? My brother's coach said he played football for a year with a torn ACL. Can this be true?

playing with a torn one insure that you'll have problems that are not easily fixed later.You can carry on as long as you have no long term goals of playing pro.
My son played a little before they discovered he needed ACL reconstuction.6 months later he was playing again and after a year, his knee is stronger than the origional.
I don't know how someone plays without one...maybe it's just not his origional one? They took muscle and made new ligaments for my son.
I do know the sergeon said the ACL stops the knee from popping out of place.

The ACL, (Anterior cruciate ligament,) comes down the middle of the knee joint between the medial and lateral epicondyles of the distal femur, and attaches to the anterion aspect of the tibial plateau. It is one of the ligaments that holds the knee together and gives it stability. It is possible to function without it, but the knee is not very stable especially if the person is going to be doing a lot of running and quick changes of direction.

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