Friday, August 03, 2007

Sad news from T-Town

End of the lineTide's Prothro put on medical hardship; career essentially over - Tuscaloosa News - 8/3/07
TUSCALOOSA University of Alabama senior wide receiver Tyrone Prothro has been ruled out for the 2007 season, essentially ending his college football career. Prothro sustained a horrific multiple leg fracture 670 days ago against Florida, a 31-3 victory, from which he has yet to recover. The closest he got to the field last season was bringing out the game ball against Auburn.With 105 players reporting for fall camp Tuesday, Prothro and three others were placed on medical hardship. Each will still receive athletic financial aid, which will not count toward the 85-man limit.“It’s a permanent situation, there is an appeal process that a player could go through, but our medical staff would not put a guy on this if they though that a guy be able to come back and play,” Saban said.

CECIL HURT: Reality of Prothro's status sets in - Tuscaloosa News - 8/3/07
“It’s great to be optimistic. It’s probably not so good to be pessimistic.“But it’s best to be realistic.”If Nick Saban has had a mantra this summer, that’s probably been it. It’s a phrase he’s repeated at most press conferences and public speaking engagements. The inference is he’s priming the safety valve on the boiler of expectations. He’s cooling off Alabama fans who are ready to jump from hiring a new coach to hoisting the BCS championship trophy without even the formality of a season — and certainly not the bother of two or three — in between.Saban didn’t employ that frequently employed phrase on Thursday, when he once again met with the press. But the words still echoed, in an entirely different context.When Saban announced that Tyrone Prothro would be moved to a “medical scholarship” for the 2007 school year, it represented more than just a necessary personnel decision. It represented a switch from optimism — or, more precisely, over-optimism — to realism.

2 comments:

Sharp said...

It's terrible that Tyrone will not play again. But I'm glad his scholarship is being sustained. I was kind of worried about that.

Mike Wilhelm said...

Yes...The University has benefitted more from him than most players. That's the least he deserves!