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Florida’s fears have been confirmed: offensive tackle Roderick Johnson will not play football again.
Johnson, one of two Gators linemen with starting experience, suffered what the team described as “a stinger” in a scrimmage April 3, reporting numbness in his fingers and hands.
Team medical staff since has diagnosed Johnson with congenital cervical stenosis, which will end his football career, the school announced Tuesday.
“The condition is a narrowing of the spinal canal enveloping the spinal cord, preventing enough fluid to gather around the spinal cord to properly protect it from injury,” the Gators wrote in a release.
“Cervical stenosis ended the career of New York Giants running back David Wilson last year and forced Cooper Manning, the brother of NFL quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, to retire from football during his college career at Ole Miss.”
https://twitter.com/Almighty_rod55/status/588026156634533889
The 6-foot-6, 296-pound Johnson started three games at right tackle last year. Coach Jim McElwain already had hinted that the April 3 injury would end Johnson’s career, but some Gators fans hoped for a recovery and a fall return.
“One thing I’ll tell you this about any player: I will never, ever put him out there in harm’s way,” McElwain said Saturday following the spring game. “Life’s too short, man. Ain’t gonna do it, ain’t gonna do it to a young guy.”
It’s a tough break for a kid set to play a crucial role for the Gators in the next few seasons, one that also leaves the offensive line shorthanded. Trip Thurman, the only other returning offensive lineman with starting experience, missed spring practice due to an injury, although he should return by the fall.
From there, Florida will rush to prepare a group of six true freshmen, including five-star Martez Ivey.
“That’s a big loss to the team,” quarterback Treon Harris said Saturday, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Rod was coming back for his third year, it’d be his second year on the field. That loss killed us a lot, so we have to get the young guys ready and the guys coming in in the summer ready to go.”
The Gators could have just 12 scholarship linemen in the fall, six that are true freshman.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) April 14, 2015
Gators announce that OL Rod Johnson's career is over because of a spine issue. HUGE loss for the team
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) April 14, 2015
At this rate anyone reading this should seriously consider auditioning to be an offensive lineman for Florida.
— Jeff Barlis ☯ (@JeffBarlis) April 14, 2015
Rod Johnson is a kid who really loves the game of football. That was obvious when we interviewed him at the start of the spring.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) April 14, 2015
Gators might want to go all wildcat QB in 2015 with an OL made up entirely of 1st- and 2nd-year players. Yikes!
SEC D-lines are salivating.
— Jeff Barlis ☯ (@JeffBarlis) April 14, 2015
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
