Former Steelers DB Details Career-Ending Injury

He was later released by the Steelers back in April after the decision was reached for Watts to medically retire from football.

David Okonkwo, who serves on Pittsburgh's medical staff as its team neurosurgeon, appeared alongside Watts on the podcast and went into detail on what he figured out about his injury while on site in Detroit.

"Principally this was a spinal-cord neuroplaxia," Okonkwo said. "And we were able to ascertain very quickly that Ryan was having recovery of function. Because I am a neurosurgeon there on the sideline, and the Steelers are unique in the NFL that the Steelers have their neurosurgeon travel with the team.

"We're in Detroit, this happens on the road and I'm there and this is what I do for a living. And I was able to figure out very quickly that he didn't have an unstable neck injury and that he was recovering quite rapidly with restoration of function."

Watts was eventually able to walk off the field under his own power and would undergo an anterior cervical discectomy fusion at C3-4, which cured a symptom that led to him feeling a shock that went down both his arm and leg when he moved his head in a specific manner.

Because Watts was also dealing with "multi-level congenital spinal stenosis" per Okonkwo, which couldn't be cured, making a safe return to the gridiron wasn't in the cards for the 23-year-old.

Watts stated that he feels as though he can play football, but understands he can't due to the underlying concerns while also noting that he's feeling a lot better without any persisting issues.

"I feel like I can play football," Watts said. "I feel like I can go play football or do anything, but I know I can't. So that's the thing. But I feel a lot better. I don't have any of those lingering issues."