Black and Blue Review
Good to see you standing. How are you feeling?
“I feel great. I feel great. I could be feeling way much worse, as we all know, but me being a religious person, God is good, man. When you look at the situation at hand, I’m lucky to be standing in front of you guys right now.”
Should something be done about that dangerous intersection?
“I don’t know. It’s obviously raised a lot of safety questions about that whole intersection. But I hope something’s done about it because it kind of leaves the driver wondering what’s the next driver going to do.”
Can you take us through what happened?
“I was driving and as I was approaching the car, he kind of came out and slowed. So me seeing him come out slowly, I proceeded to slow up, or at least stop slowly enough for me to pass. So as I was getting closer, he started to speed up, and when he started to speed up, I was at a decision where if I pull on my brakes, I’m going to hit him because of the speed that I was going. I couldn’t stop because we were that close to each other. When I passed him, I figured I was good to go, but he just clipped the back of my truck and the rest is somebody having their good hands on me.”
Do you remember when the truck flipped and landed?
“Oh yeah. I remember everything. I was aware through the whole thing, and the one thing that I remember is I really couldn’t talk afterward cause I was such in shock. I got myself out of the truck, and I couldn’t stop smiling. In my book, one plus one is always going to equal two. Right? And I’m looking at this truck, and I’m looking at this accident, and I’m like, ‘Dude, one plus one isn’t equalling two.’ I’m looking at this truck, and I’m like, ‘Somebody’s supposed to be dead.’ I just couldn’t stop smiling cause it’s like God has his hands on me. I’m on somebody’s fantasy league, and I think it’s the man upstairs. So it’s great to walk away from something like that. My adrenaline was pumping so much, I wasn’t really feeling anything in my body at the time. But as everything started calming down, I kept feeling my back, and that’s pretty much what happened.”
How many times did you roll?
“I couldn’t tell you. I know the accident, I spinned, rolled, and I’m lucky to come out there alive.”
Was it your understanding that he was going to go straight across?
“Yes sir. If you ask me, I kind of think he was driving as if he was a tourist. Cause if you come up to that stop sign, it’s kind as if the driver was trying to look both ways. And with it only being a one-way, it was kind of suspicious for me as I was approaching him. He gave me the cue, as a driver’s cue, as an ‘ok, you can keep going.’ So when I kept driving, and I stopped again, and then he kept driving, so he stopped. And then I when I started going, he sped up again, sped up trying to go like he didn’t see me. But all is well. The one thing I don’t want to happen, and I see it happening already, this is becoming a distraction. I do not want this to be a distraction for this game upcoming this week. I’m looking forward to Bank of America being as hyped as it’s been this whole year. I’m anticipating a big win for these guys. I’m backing D.A. 100 percent. And I can’t wait to see these guys play.”
What do you know about your injury?
“The only thing I know is I’ve been getting a lot of treatment. A lot of treatment. I just wanted to put a lot of ease on so many people today. I could have easily stayed home. I could have easily secluded myself from the team, but this is the main reason what keeps me going. We’ve got to put a lot of things into perspective about life. You’ve got to understand what keeps you going, what’s really important. Health’s really important above anything else, but coach always talks about, ‘It’s not about you.’ And I think my presence today not only helped others, but it helped me as well. I see guys coming up, I get the social media response from fans and family members, just saying, ‘We’re praying for you.’ It just tells you how big sports is, but as we all know, sports is not everything because it could be gone in an instant. And I learned that firsthand.”
Did the airbags deploy and do you have any external cuts or bruises?
“No sir. The airbags did come out. But like I said, I’m just lucky to come out of there unscathed with just a little injury like I got.”
What was the response like from your teammates that you were back so quickly?
“I’m surprised every time I see that glimpse or that flashback or looking at that truck, man, I’m surprised that nothing seriously was done to me. But I really appreciate everything from the simple ‘we’re praying for you’ from fans, family members, peers, as well as teammates. That’s pretty much what kept me through it. It’s not time to sulk because there is something that has to be done come Sunday. I’m excited about it. I’m going to be the biggest supporter. And as far as when I’m coming back, who cares? That’s not something I’m worried about right now. I’m just thankful to have breath in my lungs so I can breathe.”