Medical experts of the New York Giants have advised running back David Wilson to leave the game of football after examining a spinal injury that he has been trying to recover from since last year, the team announced on Monday. Wilson, who aggravated the injury last week shortly after returning to practice, has been placed on the injured reserve list.
David Wilson advised to give up football
Doctors gave the Giants running back the news after a Monday morning exam.
Wesley Hitt
Wilson, a first-round pick in 2012, was given the news on Monday morning after being examined by team physician Dr. Russell Warren, who discussed the decision with the Giants’ website.
Big Blue View
Dr. Frank Cammisa Jr., our spine specialist at HSS examined David this morning and following that exam, we both sat down and shared our perspective with David. David has diffuse cervical stenosis. He had a disc removed and a fusion in January. In light of last week’s episode of symptoms, sensory and motor, Frank and I both told David he should not play football any more. We let David know that by playing, he would be putting himself at risk for more episodes like last week or perhaps something more serious.
Judging from his comments, Wilson appears ready to follow the advice, repeatedly referring to his career in the past tense on Monday.
“I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me, or pity me,” Wilson said in the team release. “I lived my dream. A lot of people only get to dream their dream. I lived that dream. Now I have a chance to dream another dream and live that, too.”
After receiving the news, Wilson met with Giants president John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin.
“The whole idea for David is that he fulfilled his dream,” said Coughlin. “Even though his career was cut short, he remains positive and believes God has a plan. He has accepted this in such a way that is a great example for all of us. There is no self-pity.”
The team was careful with its words while making the announcement.
The word "retire" not used in the David Wilson press release. That's by design. If he retires, he can't claim injury protection on salary.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 4, 2014 Wilson suffered a herniated disc in Week 5 last season and was eventually placed on IR. It was later revealed that he suffers from spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal cord. He underwent a spinal fusion surgery in January and, despite concerns that the injury was career-threatening, was hoping to return to action in 2014. Things were looking up when he was medically cleared two weeks ago.
The optimism was short-lived, however, as a collision in practice last week resulted in symptoms similar to the original injury.
If Wilson’s career is indeed over, he finishes with 504 yards and five touchdowns in 21 games.
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