Jump to content

DeGabriel Floyd medically retires from football


Chuckie Finster

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

"Campbell learned he had played with spinal stenosis all his life"

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30046975/earl-campbell-got-second-act-texas-longhorns-legend?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

EARL:  'If that right lick had ever hit me, I would've permanently been in a wheelchair'

You don't even have to look elsewhere to consider how Campbell's condition might have been handled today. Just last year, Texas signed linebacker DeGabriel Floyd, the No. 55 overall recruit in the ESPN 300 and the No. 6 linebacker in the country. He arrived in January at 6-2, 226 pounds and went through winter workouts with the Longhorns primed to live up to his immense promise.

"Texas took me and put 30-40 more pounds of muscle and had me running 21 miles an hour at 260. I felt nearly invincible," Floyd said. "My body felt the greatest I've ever felt."

But during his senior year of high school in California, Floyd was having the game of his life with more than 30 tackles when he collided with an offensive lineman, pinning his chin against his chest. The jolt sent a tingling sensation down his fingers and into his right leg.

He played seven more games that season, saying he felt fine. But at Texas, during workouts, he described feeling the same tingling sensation, which medical staff immediately recognized as the classic symptoms of a stinger, a spinal cord injury. Texas' doctors did multiple MRIs until they were able to find the exact positioning of his neck, and then they saw it: spinal stenosis. Floyd was immediately held out of spring practice.

"[Former Texas defensive coordinator Todd] Orlando told me to my face, 'We're trying to save you from you. We know how you play and do what you do,'" Floyd said. "They were trying to save me from possibly harming myself."

Floyd was told by doctors that his injury was connected to his diaphragm.

"If I got hit a certain way and something tapped my diaphragm, I could just stop breathing and die, on the field," Floyd said. "That's the worst-case scenario. The other one would just be like paralyzed from the neck down. Something like that."

Despite the dire warnings, Floyd begged to keep playing but finally had to relent. He retired from football last December before ever playing a game for the Longhorns. He remains on scholarship at Texas but is continuing life as a student, pursuing a career in music. Still, he has regrets.

"I was mad at myself, literally crying in my dorm, like why did I tell them about the symptoms?" he said. "Even if I would've known, I would've been truly completely happy playing.

"God forbid I died," he said as he voice trails off. "But, I mean, playing ball ..."

As unthinkable as it is now, doctors would've had the same debate about Campbell. He says he would've listened, knowing what he knows now and understands the sense of loss Floyd must be feeling.

"As bad as it would have been for me not to be an athlete, I think when they tell a young man that they can't do something because of stenosis, I think they should really take a hearing to what the doctors are saying," Campbell said. "Because if that right lick had ever hit me, I would've permanently been in a wheelchair."

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

"I was mad at myself, literally crying in my dorm, like why did I tell them about the symptoms?" he said. "Even if I would've known, I would've been truly completely happy playing.

"God forbid I died," he said as he voice trails off. "But, I mean, playing ball ..."

i hope he's made peace with that decision.  that's something that if allowed to take root could cause bitterness for the rest of his life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...
10 hours ago, RoyalBevo21 said:

It seems negligent to let him play but I guess he's accepted the fact that he could die on the field. 

I wouldn’t do it, but I doubt the risk is that great. I’m guessing the vast majority of players with spinal stenosis have gone undetected for their entire careers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...