Ex-OSU linebacker Shazier shares his miraculous story
Charles Dickens described a reformed Ebenezer Scrooge as someone who “knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.” The same can be said about former Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier and Thanksgiving — a hol- iday he observes practically every day of the year.
The pinned tweet on his Twitter feed is a video announcing his retirement from football accompanied by two simple words of text: “Thank You.” When asked what he wants Ohio State fans to know about him, he says, “I just want to say thank you so much.”
He’s even grateful for things that most people take for granted, as the title of his soon-to-be-released book reflects. “Walking Miracle” comes out on Nov. 30.
But Shazier considered sharing his story long before he played for the Steelers and a tackle of Bengals wide receiver Josh Malone on Dec. 14, 2017, nearly cost him the use of his legs.
“When I was younger, I always thought my story was worth being in a book because I grew up with some- thing most people don’t really have, and then I went through a bit of adversity just to make it to the NFL level,” he said.
Shazier was diagnosed with alopecia when he was 5 years old. The autoimmune disorder caused his hair to fall out, and he was teased by his classmates.
“That’s just a challenge in itself, just looking differ- ent and people picking on you,” he said. “But then, I had scoliosis when I was in high school, so there was a possibility that I would not even be able to make it to the NFL, or even make it to college football.”
Obviously, scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, did not keep him from playing college ball. He spent three years at Ohio State, during which he racked up 317 tackles and 15 sacks before declaring for the 2014 NFL draft.
The Steelers took him with the No. 15 overall pick.
It’s possible, though, that he got an even louder round of applause at the 2018 draft when he announced Pittsburgh’s first-round selection. His gait as he stepped to the podium was stiff. But it was the first time most NFL fans had seen him walk since a simple tackle left him without feeling in his legs.
“I’m blessed to be able to walk again,” Shazier said. “It would have been awesome to play football again, but I feel like God just wanted
to do something bigger with my life.”
To that end, Shazier established The Ryan Shazier Fund for Spinal Rehabilitation with the organization’s stated mission of giving “those with spinal cord injuries and their caregivers the support, resources and funding they need to live independent and meaningful lives.”
“I thought it was important to give back the resources that I was blessed with to overcome what I have overcome,” said Shazier, “so I wanted to be able to provide that for others.”
But to be able to accomplish what he did, he needed more than just the help he received. He needed the right mindset. And that’s what he wants the message of his story to be.
“That’s definitely something I want people to get from this book because there are so many people who go through adversity,” he said.