Walking Miracle: How Faith, Positive Thinking, and Passion for Football Brought Me Back from Paralysis...and Helped Me Find Purpose

by Ryan Shazier, Larry Platt

Overview

Nearly four years after an errant tackle left him paralyzed below the waist, the inspiring comeback story of how former Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Shazier recovered to walk again.

As an All-American at Ohio State and All-Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier was living his best life while excelling at the game he loves, a game that has given him so much. But then Ryan was forced to redefine success. Suddenly, it was no longer measured by tackles or sacks, but by purpose and faith.

WALKING MIRACLE is the story of this new definition of success, following the arc from December 4, 2017, when Shazier was injured playing the Cincinnati Bengals, to his retirement. For three years, Shazier doggedly pursued a return to professional football. He took small wins as “first downs” on the drive to return to the field: moving his toes, walking, dancing at his wedding, and ultimately running and returning to the team. What Shazier didn’t realize is that along the way, he was preparing himself for another purpose—that of father and husband, philanthropist, and football analyst. The journey was preparing him not for a renewed life as a middle linebacker, but a renewed life after the game.

Here we see Shazier overcome childhood alopecia, which caused a great deal of emotional pain, and scoliosis, which nearly robbed him of his dreams of playing college and professional football. We gain insights into legendary coaches Urban Meyer and Mike Tomlin. And we see him star on the field. Shazier was one of the best defensive players in Steeler history—a history full of great defensive stars.

WALKING MIRACLE—the message on a bracelet given to him by his godmother—is the story of Ryan’s comeback, but it’s also a book of life’s lessons, challenges, and a love letter to the power of positive thinking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538706251
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	11/30/2021
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	411,903
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ryan Shazier was a two time All Pro Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before that he was an All American at Ohio State. Since retiring from the Steelers, Shazier has joined The Ringer podcast network, hosting a weekly football show and regularly appearing on Bill Simmons's podcast. A documentary about his life is being filmed. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and two sons.

Larry Platt is the co-author of several books, including Stuart Scott's posthumous bestseller.

Table of Contents

Introduction: "Ya Gotta Shalieve!" 1

Chapter 1 "Daddy, Pray for Me" 8

Chapter 2 Faith. Discipline. Integrity. 24

Chapter 3 "No One Has Ever Had This Injury Before" 35

Chapter 4 The Obstacle in the Path Becomes the Path 45

Chapter 5 "I'm Not Going Anywhere" 68

Chapter 6 Recovery Road 79

Chapter 7 David with the Slingshot 101

Chapter 8 Luck Is the Residue of Design 123

Chapter 9 The Comeback 158

Chapter 10 Those Who Remain Become Champions 180

Chapter 11 The Terror of Living Without the Game 193

Chapter 12 Ah… Purpose!

Chapter 13 "You Can Retire from the Game of Football, but You're Never Going to Retire from Being a Pittsburgh Steeler" 223

Epilogue: Lessons 235

Acknowledgments 241

About the Authors 243

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/13/2021

In this extraordinary debut, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Shazier recounts his inspiring path to recovery after being paralyzed from the waist down. Unlike other sports memoirs, Shazier’s story steers clear of clichéd descriptions of his dedication to the game. Instead, he focuses on the unwavering support of his family, friends, and teammates as he leads readers through the difficult months that followed a routine tackle in 2017 that left him with a “20 percent chance of walking again.” He recalls his painstaking recovery process, as he went from catching thrown teddy bears to test his reflexes to attending his team’s games in a wheelchair and eventually beginning the therapy that led him to walk again. While he writes it wasn’t “all inspiration and smiles,” his experience fueled his desire to serve “a greater good” through a commitment to charitable work. Interspersed with thoughtful reflections on what it means to reconfigure one’s life and goals, Shazier’s testimony of hope and personal strength reaches its emotional pinnacle when a video of him and his wife dancing at their wedding goes viral. “Seventeen months ago... I’d been carted off the field,” he writes. “Now there I was, dancing.... It was the ultimate first down.” The result will score with more than just football fans. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"I have known Ryan Shazier since his sophomore year in high school and coached him at The Ohio State University. He has always been one of the most relentless athletes I have ever been around. This along with his competitive spirit and talents made him one of the top LBers in college and then in the NFL. He took this same relentless approach and competitiveness to coming back from paralysis. WALKING MIRACLE is a testament to how much hard work, faith, and positive thinking can change a life and inspire others."

—Urban Meyer, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach

"WALKING MIRACLE is one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. Anyone who has dealt with a difficult time in their life or have had to overcome huge obstacles or personal battles will be able to relate. Steeler Nation and football fans across the country who witnessed Ryan’s journey to walk again should support this book. Ryan's story is a true testament to his unbelievable will, desire, and shows who he is as a man."—Snoop Dogg

“Ryan’s remarkable story is one of perseverance, resilience, inner fortitude, and commitment. His journey provides inspiration to us all to face head on the challenges life may bring our way.”—Eugene Smith

"Ryan Shazier is a walking embodiment of the idea that the obstacle is the way. His story will not fail to inspire you."

—Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of STILLNESS IS THE KEY

“As a teammate and friend, I was used to being blown away by Ryan's commitment and preparation on the football field. But, as WALKING MIRACLE shows, Ryan took those same principles and applied them to his comeback from paralysis. I was there when he took his first steps months after his injury. He is a warrior and the epitome of perseverance. It's a comeback that will inspire you, as Ryan has always inspired me.”—Will Allen, former Giants cornerback

“Ryan is a true inspiration, not just in Pittsburgh but for anyone who reads this book. Ryan overcame so much in his early life, and those challenges prepared him for the biggest fight of his life after suffering a spinal cord injury. Ryan’s positive attitude coupled with his faith, focus, and hard work made him a world-class athlete and now a role model to anyone facing adversity.”—Mark Wahlberg

“In this extraordinary debut, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Shazier recounts his inspiring path to recovery after being paralyzed from the waist down. Interspersed with thoughtful reflections on what it means to reconfigure one’s life and goals…the result will score with more than just football fans.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

07/01/2021

Liberated of both job and relationship, journalist Lasley moved from London to Aberdeen and, as she relates in Sea State, worked on an oil rig—the better to understand how men behave with no women around and to witness masculine culture suddenly in crisis (50,000-copy first printing). In Cokie, Roberts recalls distinguished journalist Cokie Roberts, his wife of 53 years (150,000-copy first printing). A two-time All Pro Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Shazier suffered a spinal-cord injury during a game and had to learn to walk again before he could finally dance with his wife at their wedding—a Walking Miracle that required the perseverance and strength he now applies to his post-game life (50,000-copy first printing). Having immigrated to the United States as a toddler, been paralyzed owing to gunshot as a gang member, and become an English professor after earning a master's degree in medieval literature, Silva addresses The Death of My Father the Pope, recalling a man who was an abusive alcoholic (originally scheduled for August; 30,000-copy first printing). As beloved British novelist Thomas relates in 41-Love, at age 41 she was healthier than ever and happily ensconced with a partner yet faced painful obstacles—the death of loved ones, the realization that she would never have children—that compelled her to return to an early love of her life: tennis. In A Calm Chaos, Walker, the psychiatrist on Bravo's Married to Medicine series and one of Essence's "Woke 100," relates life with a distant, addicted father, her own struggles with depression, and the later-in-life realization that her immigrant grandmother was bipolar, all contributing to her commitment to work with people who are mentally ill in inner cities (40,000-copy first printing).

Library Journal

2021-10-13
A former NFL star writes about an on-field injury that threatened to paralyze him for life.

Shazier, a standout linebacker at Ohio State and with the Pittsburgh Steelers, liked nothing better than to smack up against the opposing line, and especially to sack opposing quarterbacks. Unfortunately, before the league rules changed, Shazier was a devotee of helmet-to-helmet contact, collisions that were “always dangerous”: They subject both offensive and defensive players to the danger of breaking a neck or experiencing a major concussion. Shazier found that danger realized in a game against Cincinnati, when, after a fairly routine tackle, he was unable to move his legs. Working with accomplished sportswriter Platt, Shazier digs into the statistics surrounding injuries in the football world. For example, defensive backs and linebackers suffer the greatest incidence of spinal injuries on the gridiron, and the numbers are appalling. The author’s injury was different in that it involved a back already compromised by scoliosis. With a grim medical outlook at first, it seemed that he might be forever wheelchair-bound, but Shazier fought the odds: “It actually took more fight and will and stamina to walk on a treadmill in the six months after my injury than it ever did to leave it all on the practice field as an NFL player….On the treadmill, I was fighting my own body.” Now retired from the game, Shazier launched a foundation to aid people with spinal injuries—he reckons there are about 295,000 in the U.S.—and fund research. He also draws on his Christian faith and appreciation of Roman stoicism to offer thoughts on how to keep going “when things look so bleak you want to quit,” thoughts given without the hollow rah-rah of so many sports-oriented motivational texts.

Inspirational reading for athletes and, in particular, those injured in the pursuit of the prize.

Kirkus Reviews