Violence & Brawls ·
Ryan Shazier Returns to Cincinnati to Say Thank You
Eight years after the spinal cord injury that he says ended his football career, the former Steelers linebacker reunited with the medical team that helped him recover.
Ryan Shazier returned to Cincinnati on Dec. 4, 2025, to thank the medical team that helped him recover from the spinal cord injury he suffered there eight years earlier. The former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker had regained the ability to walk, though he said he was not at 100 percent. The anniversary still brought him back to the tackle that ended his football career.
“I still do look at it and think about like, man, today’s the day that, you know, my football career died. I cried a little bit, but also smiled a lot too,” Shazier said during the reunion at UC Health.
On Dec. 4, 2017, less than four minutes into the Steelers’ Monday night game against the Bengals, Shazier went to tackle Cincinnati receiver Josh Malone. He led with the crown of his helmet. After his head struck Malone’s midsection, he fell, reached for his back and rolled over. He repeatedly clenched his fist before removing his helmet.
Monday Night Football announcer Sean McDonough said he did not see Shazier move his legs after the hit. NFL Network reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that Shazier kept pointing to his waist as he left the stadium in an ambulance. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for evaluation. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had no update to offer at his postgame news conference and went to the hospital after leaving the stadium.
The Steelers later announced that Shazier had undergone an MRI and a CT scan and said he “continues to improve.” The following morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Shazier had some movement in his lower extremities, while cautioning that the next 24 to 48 hours were important for further improvement. Those were early updates on an injury that left him paralyzed from the legs down.
Shazier regained the ability to walk six months after the injury. At the 2025 reunion, he said he could do more than he had imagined, thanks in part to UC’s neuroscience care team. His work now also reaches other people with spinal cord injuries: the Ryan Shazier Fund for Spinal Rehabilitation, which he started five years before the reunion, supports patients and their caregivers. By December 2025, it had expanded to serve every county in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
At UC Health, his purpose was more personal. “To have this community of doctors and this staff be in the forefront in the first steps of allowing me to build back my life, I can’t thank them enough with the just the care that was provided here,” Shazier said. “So, I just wanted to come back and say thank you.”