IRVING, Texas – George Selvie offered more insight Monday into the shoulder surgery he underwent a month ago.
The Cowboys' defensive end said on 105.3 FM "The Fan" that it was his first ever surgery and described it as a major one, but noted that he's now out of the sling.
"It's a long season, especially NFL or college too," Selvie said. "You've got to go and clean that stuff out or in the long run it'll bother you. So that's what I did."
Selvie said he's staying in the Dallas-Fort Worth area while completing his rehab and that he tries to make it to Valley Ranch every day. He said he can lift his arm now, but he can't do much more in his workouts until his shoulder heals.
"Just some leg workout stuff," Selvie said. "That's about it."
Selvie's one of a handful of Cowboys players who underwent offseason surgery with the hope of returning in time for offseason workouts. He popped up on the injury report near the middle of the 2013 season with a shoulder issue but played through the pain and started all 16 games. He also battled a back injury late in the year.
Rather than have the shoulder problem linger, he went ahead and got the surgery in January.
Selvie's coming off the best year of his career, totaling seven sacks to place second on the team in the category. Selvie's previous high in sacks was 1.5 his rookie year in 2010.
Selvie also forced the first fumble of his career. He hadn't started an NFL game prior to the 2013 season and didn't join the Cowboys until training camp had already started. [embedded_ad]
He still remembers getting the call from his agent that the Cowboys wanted to bring him in after they'd already started training camp in Oxnard, Calif. It wasn't long before Selvie earned the nickname "brick layer" from then-defensive line coach Rod Marinelli for his ability to come from the bottom of the totem pole and slowly build his way up every day.
"I went with the Bucs during the free agency period," Selvie said. "They let me go after two weeks. I didn't go through OTAs, nothing. I was like, 'This might be my last chance.' I had to take my opportunity then. I was like, 'I'm not going home.'"
