Up and running: once a prisoner in his own bed, Packers tackle Chad Clifton has made remarkable progress in his recovery from a career-threatening injury and is focused on becoming the player he used to be. (NFL).

Six months ago, Chad Clifton lay on a table with a 5 1/2-ounce hockey puck on his navel and had barely enough strength to lift his midsection an inch. The thought of being able to run a simple straight line wasn't even on his radar.

So when the Packers' left tackle recently walked down to one of the team's practice fields with assistant conditioning coach Mark Lovat and ran some sprints it was a significant day in his long journey back to being whole again.

Not only was Clifton on even ground with Mark Tauscher, the other half of the team's rehabbing tackles, he was doing something that football players do. It was a moment of rebirth for someone who had ...