Ryan Shazier Came Walking Out Last Night To Announce The Steelers Draft Pick… I’m Not Crying

Ryan Shazier continues to inspire. pic.twitter.com/lsYeu1r3kA

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 27, 2018

What a God damn moment. I try to explain to people who don’t like sports just what a community it can be and how incredible a lot of stories are. And this is one of those stories that even if you are on the opposite side of the aisle and don’t pay attention, if you have a little context, this is one hell of a moment.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Ryan Shazier suffered a brutal injury back in early December where he went to make a tackle and hit the offensive player with the top of his head. When he hit the ground, his legs weren’t moving.

Prayers out to Ryan Shazier, hard to see such a talented player get hurt like that 🙏🏻 #ryanshazier pic.twitter.com/C3edB1U9up

— Will Kingsley (@wkingsley03) December 5, 2017

Shazier had injured his spine.

Now months later, Shazier is on the road to recovery and his learning how to walk again. This was the first moment that the public has seen him up on his two feet and walking. Incredible. There was an abundance of tweets last night just highlighting how the building became essentially a wetland. Not a lot of dry eyes is what I kept reading. And how could you not at least become slightly emotional? This guy sacrifices his body essentially for our entertainment. Now obviously he gets paid a lot of money to do so, but come on, he doesn’t get that money if the consumers, us, don’t enjoy the product as much as we do.

Moments like these are why sports are special. Not to get too sappy as by now I’m usually writing something upbeat and joking most of the time, but it’s tough to joke around with this topic. Ryan Shazier is a legend and an inspiration.

-Nick Quaglia (@NickQuag)