Eric LeGrand’s recovery: Paralyzed Rutgers player continues to make gains

“Leading up to the draft, I couldn’t help but think that this should’ve been Eric’s draft class,” said Schiano. “This small gesture is the least we could do to recognize his character, spirit, and perseverance. The way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking for in Buccaneer Men.”

So, yep, go Bucs.

Happy Monday! Let’s get this day started right.

↵

“So I left tire marks in the snow yesterday as I led my team out,” LeGrand said at the time. “Next time will be footprints.”

The cover, plus video of the fantastic moment:

↵

↵Via Brian Thompson

There’s a lot of bad things going on right now, but let’s hit the pause button for a moment.

↵

The tracks in the snow left by his wheel chair remained through kickoff, providing a reminder during live football action of what this game means to Rutgers players and fans. LeGrand’s unbreakable spirit has been a joy to keep up with throughout his recovery. This won’t be the last moment like this to feature him.

Rutgers takes on Big East power West Virginia this Saturday, but the Scarlet Knights get the Mountaineers at home. And they’ll have a stirring moment to top most stirring moments before the game, when Eric LeGrand leads the team out of the tunnel.

LeGrand, who was briefly paralyzed after a hit on a kickoff return in 2010, is now on the road to recovery, and one of college football’s more inspirational tales. He’s been doing radio analysis for Rutgers and in-studio analysis for CBS and SNY, and is scheduled to add ABC to that list this Saturday.

↵Bryan Fischer tweeted the following, and we’re going to have to wholeheartedly agree with his assessment of the news.

↵↵LeGrand also hopes to lead Rutgers out of the tunnel next weekend as the Scarlet Knights get set to face West Virginia. Gotta say, this is a pretty good two-week stretch for LeGrand, who continues to progress nicely.

I dunno, this seems like something only 99.9 percent of the world would enjoy (Nick Saban does not have time to think about whether he’d enjoy it or not, but even he’d like it).

↵

↵

Why yes, Eric LeGrand news is more important than pretty much any other college football news. Let’s keep this going:

↵

LeGrand, who’s since progressed to regain limited use of his legs, can reportedly stand for around an hour with a walker to balance him. Keep up with his recovery and other Rutgers athletics news at SB Nation’s On The Banks.

Better news than the end of the NFL lockout? Yes, indeed:

↵

↵

↵[via.]

It’s great to hear that he’s taking steps toward recovering. He’s already progressed well beyond where doctors thought he would at the time of the injury - they said he would never talk or eat solid foods, Scarlet Report writes. Now, he does both.

In fact, LeGrand spoke at a comedy event in February, and he also recently said that he could feel “twitches” in his body, so it appears he’s making progress.

LeGrand has previously demonstrated good spirits, made several public appearances and even spoken publicly. His continuing recovery is something every college football fan can root for without reservation.

Schiano has proposed an interesting rule to replace kickoffs. Instead of a kickoff, teams would start in a 4th and 15 situation on the 30 yard like, where they would have the option to punt, which would serve the function of a kickoff, or run a play, which would serve the function of an onside kick. Crazy?

Said Schiano, about his idea: ‘Why do we have to have kickoffs? Just because we’ve always had them?’ 

Eric Legrand just keeps on surprising us: The Rutgers defensive tackle, paralyzed since injuring his spine during last October’s game against Army, was the main attraction at a comedy event on campus this past Saturday, a show put on in support of the Believe Fund, established to help LeGrand and his family in his recovery. Motoring onstage in an electric wheelchair to a thunderous standing ovation, LeGrand spoke briefly to the crowd before turning the mic over to RU alum Bill Bellamy:

“I just want to thank everybody for coming out here tonight. I’m just gonna keep on chopping and doing my rehab.”

One Rutgers grad in attendance, attorney/blogger @metschick, spoke with us about the event and seeing LeGrand for the first time since he was carted off that field on a backboard:

University sports spokesman Jason Baum tweeted that LeGrand will be attending a comedy performance to support his Believe Fund charity.

In a follow-up phone interview, Baum told NBC New York that LeGrand can now sit up in a wheelchair, and recently made his first return visit to the Rutgers campus to join a team meeting.

“He was in great spirits and he was talking,” Baum said.

There’s nothing else to add to this except to say this absolutely makes our week, and we hope it made yours too. For more information on how you can help the LeGrand family, visit the Believe Fund website, and our Rutgers community, On The Banks.