We have seen Ryan Shazier at various sporting events and on his social media sites since his injury Dec. 4 at Cincinnati. What we hadn't done is heard anything from the Steelers' Pro Bowl linebacker.
Until Tuesday. Joining teammate Roosevelt Nix on the fullback's podcast, Shazier said Tuesday he not only hopes to return to the football field at some point, he still has bigger goals in mind.
“Since I’ve been in college, I really wanted to go to the Hall of Fame, I still want to go to the Hall of Fame,” Shazier said. “All my goals are like making me want to go to the Hall of Fame. They say like some progressions they see week to week, they see from me day to day. I’m really trying to come back and still be a Pro Bowler. I’m sorry, because I feel I got snubbed this year for All-Pro even though I got hurt. But I feel like my stats are as good as those who made it.”
Shazier suffered a spinal cord injury to his lower back in the win over the Bengals and spent the remainder of the season hospitalized, though he was able to visit the Steelers at their practice facility a number of times and also attended some home games. He was released from the hospital the week before the Super Bowl was played.
Shazier has since been at the team facility every day, according to general manager Kevin Colbert, sitting in on coaching and personnel meetings, and continuing his rehab.
“I’m really trusting the process,” Shazier said. “I know the end goal. So I’m taking every step of the way, I’m giving everything I got. The therapists are like, ‘Man this is crazy; I’ve never seen anyone work this hard.’ They almost see progression every day.”
His teammates aren't doubting him, either.
"He definitely has the big goal of coming back," fellow linebacker Arthur Moats told me. "At the same time, he does compartmentalize. You saw it when he has the post, ‘This was a major milestone for me,’ when he was able to check out (of the hospital). Or when he was able to first come to a practice. He has all of these miniature milestones that he’s accomplishing right now. All of those are geared toward his major goal. That’s his view on it."
Shazier confirmed all of that with Nix. He continues to work and has gained a completely new appreciation for many things, including others in his predicament.
He's seen their day-to-day struggles first hand, and though he hopes to someday play football again, that newfound respect isn't going away.
“I gained so much more appreciation for people with disabilities and in wheelchairs. You can be going up one incline, that’s so much harder," Shazier said. “The thing that’s so funny is like when I do the littlest things, people don’t understand how much people appreciate this right now. Like the process of me trying to get my feeling back to stand up and all that. Everything I did, I appreciated every moment.”
Which leads to the big smiles so many have grown accustomed to seeing on his face every time he's been seen in public.
Shazier said moments like the one above at a Penguins game two weeks ago were important for him. He hears what others are saying about his rehab process, which he does two hours per day, five days per week, and he wanted to clear things up regarding this Instagram post when he was first released from the hospital.
“I really wanted to do that because I felt everybody needed to see that,’’ Shazier said. “At the end of the day, everybody saw the picture of me and Ben (Roethlisberger). I stood up. The thing is, in the picture, people were saying Ben supported me, too. He was barely even holding me. I was like I want to stand up so people can really see Ben ain’t just holding me up. This isn’t rigged.”
