Knee Feels Locked Up. Heal on its own?

One day I had a very nasty fall while playing football. Due to a very harsh tackle, I experienced a popping sound from my knee. And from that day I have severe knee pain. Knee feels locked up. I feel trouble while climbing stairs. I read so many articles on the net and I feel that may be it can be a ligament tear as well as the articular cartilage problem sometimes I feel like I'm loosing my balance while walking. I still play football and my knee sounds popping everyday. Although the nasty fall was nine months ago, I did not have the knowledge about the same so I never bothered about it but now after reading so many articles I find this problem an important one. I have done one x-ray and the reports were normal. Can ligament tear heal on its own? If it's an ACL one and can articular cartilage be re-generated. Please share your advice and if possible do suggest about home remedies.