A Loosely-Sourced Confirmation of Paul Holmgren's Claim About James van Riemsdyk's Infected Foot

Homer's bike in the background?

Earlier today, Paul Holmgren denied a report saying James van Riemsdyk was delaying hip surgery to prevent the Flyers from trading him, telling CSN Philly the reason for the delay was an infection in JVR’s foot.

That’s a reasonable explanation. But Homer’s a known liar, so we always question the things he says. 

That’s where reader Inseo Choi comes in. 

Choi, continuing our trend of Asian readers taking pictures with local athletes, provides some evidence to back Homer’s claim. He sent us the above photo – taken on Sunday, he says – with the following context: 

I ran into JVR yesterday (Sunday) afternoon in the Rittenhouse area and I noticed that he was kinda limping. I saw that he was wearing sandals and there was some sort of cut or scabbing near his heel area… So some truth to the foot injury infection???

Ohhhh, intrigue!

I asked Inseo if he had a picture of JVR’s foot. He didn’t. But unless you’re Rex Ryan, why would you?

TSN’s Darren Dreger provides more information that the delay in JVR having surgery has nothing to do with him trying to avoid being traded.

Dreger tweeted:

Dreger's reasoning differs from Holmgren's, but both give actual reasons for JVR not having surgery.

Still, JVR’s agent, Alec Shall, told CSN Philly’s Sarah Baicker that a trade wouldn’t come as a surprise:

"I would not be surprised [if JVR were to be traded], but it's nothing the Flyers have told us to expect."  

Homer once told Jeff Carter that he wouldn’t be traded, and then traded him anyway. So the lack of a warning from Holmgren means nothing because, hell, even a “you’re safe” message is completely worthless, apparently.