Ryan Shazier says he plans to play football again

It appears Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier is not ready to be done with the game of football yet. In his first interview since his devastating spinal injury in December, Shazier went on teammate Roosevelt Nix’s podcast to make it known that he has plans to get back on the football field.

“I’ve gotta get back, bro,” Shazier told Nix. “I’m still reaching for that Hall of Famer.”

Shazier said the same thing in a conversation with NFL Network’s Mike Mayock and Rich Eisen during the combine.

“I know it’s still a possibility,” Shazier said. “I have the Lord and he has my back and I constantly feel I’m going to come back and play football.”

Shazier suffered a spinal injury after trying to make a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. Two days later, the All-Pro linebacker underwent surgery and has been in a wheelchair ever since. However, Shazier did make an appearance from the press box at the Steelers’ regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns, being a motivator for the Steelers as they made their playoff push.

Shazier touched on many topics throughout the podcast, including the goals he has for the rest of this career. The former Ohio State linebacker knows what he has to do to get back onto the field.

“I’m really trusting the process and I know the end goal, so I’m taking every step of the way,” he said via ESPN.com. “My therapists are like, man ... the progression they [usually] see every week, they see every day.”

If he is healthy and cleared by doctors to play again, it will be an emotional sight to see Shazier running out of the tunnel at Heinz Field.