The night of December 4, 2017, will forever be etched into the memory of Pittsburgh Steelers fans forever. Everyone watching that game, be it from the stands at what was then Paul Brown Stadium, on TV screens in living rooms or bars, on tiny phone screens in a college dorm room, wherever and however they got it, all were hit with a flood of emotions when Ryan Shazier laid motionless on the turf.
For the spectators, that night along with Damar Hamlin collapsing on the same field five years later are certainly some of the scariest moments to watch on an NFL field, but imagine being on the sideline as a coach. Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin vividly remembers the night when one of the then-leaders of his team was carted off on a stretcher, unsure if he'd ever walk again. He told Spence T'eo and Ben Roethlisberger on the Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger podcast all about how he recalls the unfolding of events on that December night in Ohio and how after he initially thought Shazier was seriously injured, then after talking to him, thought he was going to be ok:
"It was probably the darkest professional day I've ever had, there is nothing worse as a coach," Tomlin said. "I was naive. I think a significant part of me said it was going to be Ok because he was Ryan. Because he was articulating so well, it led you to believe this might be some temporary paralysis. When I got to him, he was communicating with me. That created probably an unrealistic and inappropriate comfort in me in the big picture of things."
Though he knew it was serious, the signs he had seen gave him hope he'd be seeing things get better soon. The coach began to start checking in with other players on the team:
"[Shazier] got to the point where I was focusing some of my energy on some others, like Vince Williams was inconsolable," he said. "I had an expectation that somebody was going to give me a tap on the shoulder and get some positive update that I could share with the guys, that's what I'm thinking when he left the stadium. The longer that didn't happen, the initial fear I had returned. By the end of the game, I was scared to death."
For Steelers Franchise, That Game Was About Way More Than Winning Or Losing
While Tomlin quickly recalled on the podcast that Chris Boswell hit a final second-field goal for the Steelers to win 23-20, both he and Roethlisberger said they couldn't have told you that at that moment. Though Tomlin certainly mentioned winning the game more than a few times in his press conference after the game:
"Bos kicked the game-winning or whatever. Have you ever been a part of a game with a field goal on the last play of the game and you walk off the field like that," he asked. "After the game, my whole deal was to get to the hospital and when I got there, the worst fears were realized. In the stadium, Ryan had created a false sense of comfort in me that was unrealistic by the way he responded."
As they got to visit him at the hospital, his positivity continued to spread and they began to see Ryan the person emerging, though he'd never see the football field again. Despite not being able to play anymore, Shazier continues to have a positive impact on the Steelers and the community.
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