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Lifting the Leg. No less important than the actual surgical repair of Namath's knee will be the retraining of his muscles to make his right leg at least as strong as his left. Even as he first opened his eyes after coming out of the anesthesia, the 195-lb., 6-ft. 2-in. athlete found Dr. Nicholas holding his ankle and ordering him to raise his right leg. When he tried to do so, the effort was almost as painful as his original injury. But Namath gamely kept trying. No matter how much it hurts, he will have to repeat that exercise scores of times a day. Hundreds of times a day he will have to contract the big quadriceps muscle that runs down the front of the thigh, tying together the femur, kneecap and tibia. With knee bent and also extended, he will lift weights on his right foot. By July, if all goes well, he should be ready for practice, and for the rigors of professional football.