
49ers DE Keion White suffered a gunshot wound to his right ankle in the morning after the Super Bowl back in February. Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, White said it differs from a football injury.
“It’s different because it’s trauma instead of just, like, breaking an ankle with a sports-related injury,” White said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “When you hurt yourself in football, there’s a protocol for damn near everything. Football players don’t just get shot every day… I mean, I guess they do on this team.”
White said he was trying to lighten the situation as it happened, saying he was mentally fine because it was unfortunately a situation he’s been around due to his upbringing.
“The funny part is, I was actually the one calming everybody else down. I don’t really take a lot of things seriously. I didn’t even know I got shot until like five minutes after, as I was walking around.”
“Mentally, I was cool. Like, I wasn’t really mentally traumatized or anything like that. Unfortunately, I’ve been in a situation, growing up and everything, where they had a shooting before — this was just unfortunately my time. It wasn’t traumatic at all, really.”
Overall, White feels good physically but is still recovering, while his Week 1 status is questionable.
“To be honest, it’s still an ongoing thing,” White said. “Still recovering, taking it a day at a time. But I feel pretty good right now. It was like a touch-and-go situation right up to the beginning of training camp, for real.”
More must-reads:
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!