Two years ago, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered a devastating spinal injury in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals that threatened to end his career, not to mention his ability to walk.
Since then, Shazier has been on the road to recovery, and while he missed the entire 2018 campaign, he is not only up and walking, but he has hopes of stepping on the gridiron again.
“Yeah, I definitely want to play again,” Shazier said on Friday, according to Ed Bouchette of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I have a time frame in my head, but I haven’t really told anybody yet. At the end of the day I’m taking it one step at a time. I’m a lot closer to my goal than I was when I got hurt.”
While Shazier was not able to play this past season, he spent the year studying and learning more about the game, which should absolutely help him if he returns to the field moving forward…or if he decides to coach someday.
“I definitely want to learn more about the coaching aspect of it, the scouting aspect of it,’’ Shazier said. “Probably even ownership, just to learn how they do things also.”
As for whether or not the 26-year-old has given thought to a career outside of actually playing the game of football? He admits he has, but he is also not giving up on his dream.
“I thought about it a little, bit but I honestly feel like my goal is attainable,” he said. “My doctor said everything is attainable, so I really didn’t think about [other jobs in football] too hard. He just said if I keep going at the rate I’m going, the sky’s the limit, the door’s not closed yet, so I just keep pushing.”
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