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17	August 2018

ankle 6 1/2 weeks after an operation

Ryan Shazier's routine hasn't changed much Markus Wheaton Jersey Eagles , even after a life-altering spinal injury put his football career in jeopardy.

The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker still arrives at the team facility around 7 a.m. He still watches copious amounts of film. He still works out regularly, often with his teammates alongside. And he still believes one day he will run out of the Heinz Field tunnel in full uniform despite the many obstacles he understands are in his path.

"My dream is to come back and play football again," Shazier said on Wednesday in his first wide-ranging public remarks since undergoing spine stabilization surgery last December. "I'm working my tail off every single day; have (playing again) in the back of my mind every single time I go to rehab."

Shazier walked into the media room with help of a cane and spent 20 minutes outlining his journey since he lowered his head to hit Bengals wide receiver Josh Malone in the first quarter on Dec. 4. He called the moment after impact when he grabbed the small of his back while his legs lay motionless "a little scary," but was quick to thank emergency responders in Cincinnati for their delicate work on the field in the immediate aftermath.

He underwent spine stabilization surgery on Dec. 6 and has spent the intervening months remaining adamant he would play again while being a fixture at the team's practice facility, where he has become a de facto coach. It's a role he's embracing, but one he's not quite ready to accept on a full-time basis.

"Just because I got hurt doesn't mean I'm going to stop loving the game of football," said Shazier, who added that despite the injury he's going to give it "everything I have" in an effort to return to play.

Details of the exact nature of Shazier's injury and his long-term prognosis remain sparse. He declined to get into specifics about whether playing again is even medically feasible, saying his medical team has told him to focus on making incremental improvements.

"Honestly right now, I'm not a doctor," Shazier said. "Every day I take it one day at a time. The further we get along in rehab, the better they can give me answers."

Shazier has made remarkable progress in the last six months. He spent several weeks in the hospital following surgery, though he took time out to attend several Steelers home games near the end of the 2017 season. He regularly posts updates through his social media accounts and provided an indelible moment during the NFL draft in April when he walked on stage in Dallas to announce Pittsburgh's first-round selection.

Though he's from Florida, Shazier has chosen to stay in Pittsburgh in part because it helps him feel like "I'm still myself."

He's received a massive outpouring of support from all over Authentic James Daniels Jersey , including an avalanche of "Get Well" letters from over 500 students at an elementary school.

T-shirts emblazoned with his familiar No. 50 and the phrase #Shalieve 鈥?the hashtag Shazier made famous in the early stages of his recovery 鈥?have become fashionable across Pittsburgh with fans and fellow athletes. Several members of the Pittsburgh Pirates have donned the T-shirts after games as tribute.

"I've met a lot of interesting people, a lot of people I never thought I'd meet," Shazier said.

The Steelers placed him on injured reserve last month, ending any chance of a comeback in 2018. The team also modified his contract so that he would receive the majority of the $8.7 million he is due this year up front.

The 25-year-old two-time Pro Bowler believes walking without assistance is the next milestone, one he refuses to put a timetable on. He is trying instead to focus on his health, how to best help the Steelers even if he can't join them in the huddle, while making sure to appreciate it that he's made it even this far. He understands some do not.

There is no guarantee Shazier will be able to run again without assistance, let alone throw on a pair of shoulder pads. It's something he'll live with if he has to. Yet he owes it to himself to try.

"I'm fine with whatever outcome comes with it," he said. "I try to stay as positive as possible."

Terrell Owens learned a valuable lesson at a young age from the most influential person in his life.

"I've always listened and learned a lot from my grandmother and how she lived her life and how she wanted me to live my life," Owens told The Associated Press about Alice Black, who died of Alzheimer's disease in 2012. "No matter what people say about you good, bad or indifferent, you just have to believe in yourself. And when you have belief in the man above, knowing you're not perfect Calvin Ridley Jersey Elite , the people who walk this Earth aren't perfect either, and (if) you start to pass judgment and start to believe things about people who you don't know personally, then that's really a reflection of yourself."

Growing up in a poor family in Alabama, Owens had a difficult childhood and he was often lonely. He was raised by his grandmother and his single mother, who spent much of her time working double shifts to support her children.

"Early in my career when I was an adolescent and teenager, I had self-esteem issues," Owens said. "I had to get out of that and understand that you have to believe in yourself in order to progress in order to do anything in your life. I'm very proud of how my grandmother raised me."

Plenty of people have formed strong opinions about Owens, sometimes based on rumors and innuendo. T.O. certainly brought much of the criticism on himself with some of his outlandish behavior, but he believes he was also misunderstood at times. It was easier for critics to pile on than try to understand what made Owens tick.

That's why Owens believes it took Pro Football Hall of Fame voters three tries to finally get him into the Canton shrine, although he's not actually going to Ohio. Miffed that he was passed over twice, Owens is skipping the induction ceremony and instead giving his acceptance speech at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Owens said he visited the hall after his selection and decided he'd rather celebrate the big day at his alma mater.

"I feel the Hall of Fame committee needs to find a better formula and format in which guys get nominated and inducted, because all the hard work we're doing as players to better our lives, our careers, our fate is in guys' hands that have never played before Arden Key Jersey Raiders ," Owens said, perhaps ignoring that Hall of Famers Dan Fouts and James Lofton are among the voters. "People not giving me my recognition because a few people have said they didn't like me. The narrative has been created and portrayed that I was divisive in the locker room and I wasn't a good person or a bad teammate, but there have been people who have stood on the table for me and said I was a good teammate, a great player. But that's the narrative they didn't go with."

The 44-year-old Owens had a mostly sensational 15-year career playing for San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati. He is second to Jerry Rice in receiving yards and third in touchdown catches behind Rice and Randy Moss, who was chosen in his first year of eligibility.

No. 81 was a five-time All-Pro, a six-time Pro Bowl pick and one of the most entertaining players of his generation. His touchdown celebrations are legendary and no one worked harder to stay in excellent shape. Some think Owens could still play in the NFL; he has toyed with an attempted comeback in the Canadian Football League. He had 72 catches for 983 yards and nine TDs in his final season, in 2010, and finished with 1,078 receptions, 15,934 yards receiving and 153 TDs.

Owens was part of eight playoff teams but only reached the Super Bowl once after joining the Eagles in 2004. He gave a heroic performance in Philadelphia's 24-21 loss to New England Jets Elite Jerseys , catching nine passes for 122 yards after defying doctor's orders and returning to play on his surgically repaired ankle 6 1/2 weeks after an operation.

"What I did, it was bigger than the Super Bowl for me," Owens said. "I understood the ultimate goal was to win the game and that was heavily on my mind, and I think with my performance, you can tell that was what was on my mind. But coming out of that tunnel for the first time, the media was waiting for me to run around on the field and go through my normal routine like I do before every game just to get a glimpse, see if I was limping, things of that nature on that ankle. Coming out of that tunnel, I wanted people to know my faith in God was the No. 1 reason I was able to do what I did."

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