As Ohio State was playing its way to a Big Ten and national championship, defensive back Armani Reeves played a key role on defense. He also did so after experiencing four separate concussions during his three and a half seasons at Ohio State. After being shown video footage of a couple of former football stars Kevin Turner and Steve Smith and their current state of health, Reeves decided it would be in his best interest to retire from the sport of football, which he did earlier this spring.
According to a story by The Toledo Blade,, Reeves was shown footage of Turner and Smith by his godfather, former Toledo football player Brent Williams. Those videos and the advice of Ohio State medical staff members helped Reeves make the call to step away now rather than suffer larger problems in the future.
“It was a tough conversation to say, ‘Armani, I want you to look at these videos,” Williams told The Toledo Blade. “I’m not going to let you live like that. I can’t. If there’s anything I can do to try to prevent you being in that position, we’re going to do it.”
There is no suggestion Ohio State mishandled Reeves and his concussions, nor is there any blame directed in the direction of the medical staff or coaches at Ohio State. In fact, in the report, Williams praised Ohio State’s treatment for Reeves.
The sport of football has lost a number of young players recently as awareness of the long-term damage done by head trauma experienced in the sport can have. This is far from the old days where players would power on despite injury just to be on the field. Today we know much more about the risks involved with playing the game at a high level, and even at a lower level. The sport of football is not going anywhere, but the awareness given to safety in the game is not going to diminish either. As we learn more and more in the years to come, the equipment will improve but some players will have more reliable information to make a life-changing decision.
UPDATE (April 3, 2015, 7:47 A.M.): Brent Williams has reached out to clarify an error in the original report. Williams says Reeves suffered four concussions since arriving at Ohio State, not just from last season.@KevinOnCFB Hi Kevin just an fyi mr Briggs misunderstood my statement Armani has had 4 concussions since arriving at OSU. 4 in 3.5 year
— Brent Williams NFL (@bdub969391) April 3, 2015
This is quite a difference, but the overall theme of the story still holds true.