The Raven’s Zach Orr has retired, again. Orr originally retired in in January after being diagnosed with a congenital spine condition. After some soul searching, he then decided to come out of retirement in June. Unfortunately for Zach Orr, there aren’t many teams willing to take a chance on him.
You know, on account of the fact that he has a high risk of dying on the field.
“Because at the end of the day, my spine was too jacked up, and no team wants to be the one that has a player die on the field.” – Zach Orr
I couldn’t imagine receiving the news that Zach Orr did. He had finally made it. He’d finally earned his big pay day and then in the blink of an eye, it was all taken away from him.
Saying “that sucks,” is the understatement of the century.
That’s a stab in the gut. That’s your heart being ripped from your chest. I don’t blame the guy for considering risking his life. When all you know is taken away from you, of course it’s going to take awhile to adjust.
I don’t fault him. I’m just glad he made the health conscious decision.
The Players Tribune: “He sits down and cuts right to the chase.
“In my medical opinion, you need to stop playing football immediately.”
That wakes me up.
The only reason I was even there was because I had suffered a herniated disc a couple of weeks earlier against the Steelers on Christmas Day. The injury ended my 2016 season, so the Ravens team doctors wanted to look at my spine to see what was happening. That was when they found something they hadn’t expected — “a serious cause for concern,” they called it.”
I had just had a breakout season, and I was due to become a restricted free agent. I had signed with the Ravens in 2014 after going undrafted out of North Texas, so I was one of the lowest-paid players on the team. But the Ravens and I had had some preliminary talks last season that indicated I was in line to possibly get a second-round tender, which is worth about $2.8 million, for 2017 — far more than I had made in my first three years combined.
I had worked my whole life to put myself in this position. I was only 24 years old. My NFL career was just beginning.
And this guy’s telling me it’s over?
Is he serious?
Now, I’m no doctor, but I’ll do my best to explain what he told me next:
Apparently, I had been born with a rare congenital spine condition. My C-1 vertebrae — the one at the top of my neck, just below my skull — is not completely developed. It’s about 80% as big as it should be, and it’s also kind of split at each end, making it weaker and more prone to cracking, breaking or even shattering. And this is a problem because the C-1 helps control the movements of your head and neck. It also plays a big role in helping you breathe.”