Injured LB Ryan Shazier: 'My dream is to come back and play football again'

Former Ohio State LB Ryan Shazier suffered a serious spinal injury while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals last year.

That set in motion a lengthy rehab process, as Shazier spent a lot of time in the hospital and is still unable to walk very far without assistance.

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However, he hasn’t given up on his NFL dream. While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Shazier said he hopes to return to the field some day (via NFL.com):

“My dream is to come back and play football again,” Shazier told reporters. “I’ve been working my tail off every single day, so I have that in the back of my mind every single time I go to rehab. I just try to stay positive every day, so I’m just trying to do everything I can to get back.”

The Steelers recently placed Shazier on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, effectively ending his 2018 season. That just gives the talented ex-Buckeye more time to rehab, though, as he tries to regain the strength he once had.

He still faces a long road to recovery, but if we know one thing about Shazier, it’s to never count him out.