- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 10 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Of course these things happen in a sport like football.
Giants’ David Wilson Is Set to Retire at 23
By ZACH SCHONBRUNAUG. 4, 2014During his rookie season in 2012, Giants running back David Wilson delighted fans and irked opponents by performing a back flip in the end zone after scoring, stealing a page from the showmanship playbook of the Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith.
Like Smith, Wilson was youthful, exuberant and superbly athletic. Wilson, a former first-round draft choice, liked to show off his prodigious gifts, whether it was returning kicks in the N.F.L. or chasing rabbits around the campus of Virginia Tech.
His body, however, ultimately could not handle the toll of the game he so relished playing.
The Giants’ team doctors advised Wilson on Monday that after off-season neck surgery and an aggravation of the area July 29, it would be in his best interest to give up playing football.
In a statement by the Giants, and again in a post on his Instagram account, Wilson, 23, seemed to acknowledge that his time as a professional running back was over.
“At age 8, I told my #Dad I wanted to play football in THE NFL,” Wilson wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately that has been paused, but I am blessed that I am able to walk away from this game healthy and still able to be me with no restrictions pain or struggle.”
The news was a blow to the Giants, who hoped that Wilson could regain his rookie form, when he accounted for 1,925 all-purpose yards, the sixth most in team history.
But a hit to the neck during practice July 29 caused what the team termed a burner, sending numbness down his arms and legs. It was similar to the sensation he felt last October in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. After an examination, Wilson was found to have spinal stenosis — a narrowing of the space inside the spinal bones where the cord resides, as well as the outlets where nerves come off the cord — and he was shut down for the remainder of the season.
In January, Wilson underwent spinal fusion surgery to repair a herniated disk, and after last week’s episode, the Giants became especially concerned that Wilson’s well-being was in jeopardy if he continued playing.
The Giants placed him on the injured reserve list, at least ending his 2014 season.
“We let David know that by playing, he would be putting himself at risk for more episodes like last week or perhaps something more serious,” the team physician Russell Warren said.
Jene Bramel, an urgent care pediatrician who writes frequently about football injuries, said in an email that Wilson was at risk of paralysis and quadriplegia if his spinal cord and nerve roots were damaged. Bramel surmised that team doctors had determined Wilson’s neck bones could not adequately absorb future hits. Spinal stenosis, which can be congenital or acquired by trauma, has been linked to ending the careers of several other prominent players, including the Pro Bowlers Michael Irvin, Sterling Sharpe and Chris Samuels.
Coach Tom Coughlin said Wilson was remarkably upbeat when he spoke with him Monday.
“Nothing that was said got him to a state of melancholy or anything, and he wasn’t going to go there,” Coughlin said in a teleconference. “That’s the impression I got. If you think back on it, that’s the way he always has been.”
Wilson was named the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. His speed was self-evident — he was also a sprinter and long jumper on the track team — and it took Wilson little time to show he could be a breakaway force in the N.F.L.
“He was a guy that every time he touched the ball, you legitimately felt that he had the ability to score,” said Shane Beamer, Virginia Tech’s running backs coach. “He was a home run threat on almost every play. He had gifts you just can’t teach.”
Though he struggled with fumbling, Wilson eventually became a potent three-way running/receiving/special-teams weapon for the Giants. Against the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 9, 2012, he became the first player in N.F.L. history to record 200 kick-return yards and 100 rushing yards in a single game.
The Giants were hoping he could return as a complement in the backfield to the newcomers Andre Williams and Rashad Jennings. But General Manager Jerry Reese made clear in the spring that any contribution from Wilson this season would be viewed as a bonus.
“We were certainly excited thinking everything was going to be O.K. with David,” Coughlin said. “But in the back of your mind, how are you going to be affected as a team, it would be irresponsible not to give some thought to that.”
Coughlin said he still felt good about the team’s running-back depth.
But when camp resumes Tuesday, there will be a void at the position, where a former first-round pick can no longer celebrate success with a flip.
“I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me, or pity me,” Wilson said. “I lived my dream. A lot of people only get to dream their dream. I lived that dream. Now I have a chance to dream another dream and live that, too.”
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
