For Ryan Shazier, the most important thing is that he can literally walk away from football.
The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker is physically capable of much more than that these days, as he informed reporters during a Zoom call Wednesday after he announced his retirement. Shazier, who suffered a serious spinal injury during a game in December 2017, said he recently slipped back into character while chasing down one of his young sons.
“I actually tackled him as if I was playing a football game,” Shazier said (via the Associated Press). “I think I tackled him a little too hard, but it was kind of funny.
“I thought it was kind of an achievement that I actually was able to tackle my son, even though he’s not an NFL running back. I thought it was kind of cool just to be able to chase your son and be able to play with him.”
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Almost three years ago, Shazier could only hope to enjoy such a moment after he lowered his head to make a hit on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Josh Malone, then fell to the turf. He was immobilized on a board by trainers before being taken to a hospital. A few days later, he underwent spinal stabilization surgery, at which point it was not certain that he would ever walk again.
It wasn’t until the following February that Shazier began to regain movement in his legs. From there he began to notch inspiring milestones, including walking onto the field at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium, where he was injured 10 months earlier, and dancing with his new bride during his May 2019 wedding.
By June of last year, the two-time Pro Bowl honoree was talking of a return to football, in a bid to “make the Hall of Fame.” On Wednesday, though, Shazier said via his Twitter account that he was “here to let the world know that today I am officially retiring from the game I love so much.”
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“When I was 5 years old, I made the greatest discovery of my life,” the 28-year-old said in a video. “I discovered the game that I love — the game of football. Ever since then, I’ve given my life to the game. …
“Football gave me everything I could have ever wanted and more. It taught me about hard work, dedication, teamwork. It took me to college and the NFL. It made me money and gave me a life most people could only dream about. I’m here today to make sure the world knows how much I still love football, how grateful I am for everything football gave me.”
In his video, Shazier acknowledged that “to lose the game in a way I never envisioned has not been easy."
“When you play the game of football the way I did, you convince yourself you’re Superman, that nothing can stop you,” he continued. “But then the moment I got hurt, I stopped being Superman. That was difficult to make sense.
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“But the way I look at it, God put us all here for a purpose. For 20 years, he let me play football, and now it’s time for me to do what he wants me to do.”
Later on Wednesday, Shazier revealed that among his new projects will be contributing to an NFL-related podcast for The Ringer, and he intends to grow programs to help others through the charitable foundation he began after his injury.
“You were always a much better person than you were a football player, and when you’re a person like that, that’s always going to translate to things off the field,” fellow Steelers linebacker Vince Williams told Shazier during a brief appearance with Pittsburgh Coach Mike Tomlin on Wednesday’s Zoom media session. “So I’m just so excited about watching you attack everything else the way I watched you attack football, with that lion’s aggression.”
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Tomlin said he couldn’t wait to see Shazier again in person once “this covid situation” passed. Shazier, who was placed on the Steelers’ physically unable to perform list for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, was moved to the reserved/retired list in March and stayed away from the team during training camp because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Shazier told reporters that he spent the past two years “working my tail off to come back and play” but decided it was time to “start focusing on my family more and the next steps in my life.”
“I’m going to continue to inspire people and let them know, ’Hey, you might be in a situation you never thought you’d be in, but if you continue to work hard and continue to try to get better, you know the sky’s the limit,'” he said. “So continue to push forward.”
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