Seth Vigdor
Former Eagle Kurt Coleman will always share a bond with Tyson Gentry. However, I don’t think that the bond came about the way either man would’ve liked it to come about. Both players played in college at Ohio State University. The two had never met before the collision that would change their lives forever.
Here’s the description of the “routine tackle” that paralyzed Gentry courtesy of the Charlotte Observer.
“Near the end of a scrimmage at Ohio Stadium on April 14, then- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel put in many of the team’s younger players. Coleman was playing cornerback, and Gentry, a sophomore walk-on, lined up at receiver.Gentry ran a curl route and remembers making the catch a few feet in front of Coleman, who caught up with Gentry and dragged him to the ground. Both say it was a routine tackle.But Gentry hit the ground awkwardly and lost the ball. While defensive players celebrated after taking the fumble in for a touchdown to end the scrimmage, Coleman had a bad feeling even before turning around and seeing Gentry still on the ground.”
Gentry described the play from his viewpoint.
“I juked to the outside, and Kurt kind of bit on that and so, that gave me the opening. Quarterback threw me the ball, and as the ball got there, Kurt caught up to me, reached over to tackle me and drove me down to the ground.”
Meanwhile, Coleman recalls the play vividly.
“I broke on the ball, tackled him from behind, [he] fumbled it. We scooped it up, we scored, defense supposedly wins the scrimmage, and then you look back and he’s lying there motionless.”
Gentry fractured his fourth cervical vertebra on the play. Coleman not shockingly felt awful from the start, but the reaction that Coleman received from Gentry himself and his family touched his heart. Coleman went to visit Gentry in the hospital and was greeted by his family.
“I didn’t know what the reception would be like. I walked in the room. His parents and sisters gave me hugs and just told me everything was all right. It wasn’t my fault. I gave him a hug, and he told me everything was all right.”
During the rehab process, Coleman often visited visiting Gentry at the athletic center. They’ve managed to stay close ever since that terrible day.
Coleman will take the field on Sunday for 50 against the Broncos. When he does, Gentry and his wife Megan will be watching from their home and rooting for Coleman and the Panthers. We as humans wake up in the morning not knowing what the day will hold for us. On April 14, 2006, Coleman and Gentry both woke up not knowing what would transpire on that day. Though the outcome of that day for each man was completely different, they formed a bond that will never be broken.