Durbin undergoes successful knee replacement surgery

Sen. Dick Durbin says his less-than-exceptional high school football-playing days caused a major pain in the knee, requiring him to undergo surgery.

The Illinois Democrat’s office said that he underwent “a successful total knee replacement surgery” Tuesday. The surgery was performed at a medical center in the Prairie State.

“As a result of my unremarkable high school football career, it was determined that I needed a full knee replacement for my left knee,” Durbin, 78, said in a statement.

The Senate Democratic whip, who played football at his Catholic high school in East St. Louis, Ill., quipped in a 2010 interview that his coach put him “in any position where you couldn’t touch the ball.”

Thanking the medical staff for the “successful procedure and my new knee,” Durbin said, “I look forward to getting back to Washington as soon as possible.”

He will return to the Capitol once he’s cleared for travel by his doctor, his office said.