James Nicholas, 85; Pioneer in Treating Sports Injuries

Dr. James Nicholas, 85, whose pioneering work on sports injuries included four operations on Joe Namath’s knees, died Saturday of colon cancer at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Nicholas founded the world’s first hospital-based center for the treatment and prevention of sports injuries at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, now known as the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Nicholas was team doctor for the New York Jets, Knicks and Rangers. He performed his first surgery on Namath’s right knee three weeks after the quarterback was drafted by the Jets and signed his then-sensational $400,000 contract in 1965.

There were two more operations on Namath’s knees before the Jets’ surprise Super Bowl victory that capped the 1968 season, and one afterward. Namath wound up playing 12 seasons for the Jets and one for the Los Angeles Rams, in 1977.

A brace that Nicholas developed for Namath was eventually worn by thousands of patients.

Nicholas was born in Portsmouth, Va., educated at New York University and Long Island Medical College and served as an orthopedist in the Army. An expert in adrenal disease, he was part of a team that operated on the spine of then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, who had Addison’s disease.