One way to prove that your injured foot is healed but your brain might need some medical attention? Jump out of a perfectly good airplane, that’d be one way.
That, though, is exactly what Connor Shaw did this past weekend, telling GoGamecocks.com that he did a tandem jump Saturday on a trip to an area skydiving center. The latest “step” in the rehab process came five months after foot surgery knocked the starting South Carolina quarterback out of all 15 practice sessions this spring.
It didn’t, though, prevent him from making his inaugural leap out of an airplane that was flying at nearly 20,000 feet at the time of his exit.
“It was an incredible rush,” the senior told the website. “I think we jumped out at 17,000 feet and opened our chute at 5,000. It happened so fast. It felt like you were just floating up in the air. I would absolutely do it again.”
Shaw added that he’d like to do a solo jump on his next trip.
Based on the fact that Steve Spurrier and his coaching staff likely weren’t aware of the first trip, however, Shaw may be “convinced” to save that next trip for when he leaves Columbia after the 2013 season.
“I don’t think (the coaches) know yet,” Shaw said, “so we’ll see how that goes.”
Shaw suffered the injury to his foot during a mid-October win over Tennessee and was ultimately held out of the regular-season finale against Wofford a couple of weeks later. He played in the Gamecocks’ bowl game before undergoing surgery on the foot a few days later.
Since taking over for Stephen Garcia midway through the 2011 season, Shaw has gone 17-3 as a starter.