James Andrews

James Rheuben Andrews, M.D. (born 1942 in Homer, Louisiana) is an American orthopedic surgeon who practices in Birmingham, Alabama at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center. He also practices one day a week at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Andrews is arguably the most renowned orthopedic surgeon in his profession for knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries. Some of the most common procedures performed by Andrews are Tommy John surgery and the repair of knee damage, and generally he is considered a top specialist in repairing damaged ligaments.

In 1986, Andrews and his partner Larry Lemak, M.D., founded the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center (ASMOC) as well as the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham. He practiced at ASMOC until 2005 when he moved to St. Vincent's Hospital from the HealthSouth Medical Center. ASMOC and ASMI had had a long lasting relationship with Birmingham-based HealthSouth Corporation and its downtown medical center, where it had been since 1986. His new practice at St. Vincent's Hospital is called Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center.

Career and Education
Andrews received his degree from Louisiana State University, and completed his residency at Tulane Medical School. He also completed fellowships at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the University of Lyon.

Andrews is well known for performing orthopedic surgery on high-profile athletes from a wide array of sports. He created the HealthSouth Sports Medicine Council and was the driving force behind the successful Go For It! Roadshow. He was also an athlete himself, winning a Southeastern Conference Championship in polevaulting at Louisiana State University. Andrews was the subject of an ESPN.com article that praised his talents and listed some of his notable clients. One excerpt from the magazine stated that "[Andrews] is the alpha doc at the center of a sports-medicine network that extends well beyond doctors. Every athletic trainer, physical therapist, strength-and-conditioning coach in the land seems to have Andrews' cell phone number".

"As far as I know he's like the Jay-Z of the rap world. He's the best. He's smooth. He's smooth as butter." remarked Kevin Smith, Lions running back, on surgeon Dr. James Andrews who performed his ACL reconstruction.

He consulted on Tom Brady after his third knee surgery, Brett Favre with his shoulder surgery, and most recently worked with Albert Pujols surgery on his right elbow. He also did a surgical repair of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees's throwing shoulder when he sustained a 360 tear of the labrum and additional rotator cuff damage.

Professional Wrestling
He has also worked with professional wrestlers such as Dave Batista, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley and CM Punk.