SAN JOSE, Calif. â There was a time when Carolina Panthers safety Kurt Coleman wasnât sure if he should â or even could â play football again.
In April 2006, a freak accident in an intrasquad scrimmage at Ohio State forever changed the lives of Coleman and teammate Tyson Gentry.
Coleman, a freshman defensive back looking to make an impression on the coaching staff, charged up from his position to put a hard but legal hit on Gentry while running a route.
Coleman jarred the ball loose and the defense picked it up and scored. Coleman celebrated what he thought was a terrific play.
That is, until a few seconds later when he noticed something horrible had happened.
Gentry wasnât getting up.
âIt was like my body disappeared from me,â Gentry said.
âHorrifying,â Coleman said. âI thought I made a really big play, and you look back and heâs not moving. You go from the top of the world to the bottom.â
Gentry, a converted punter, couldnât feel anything below his neck. The minutes that followed were a blur to Coleman â the silence, trainers scrambling onto the field and the ambulance taking someone heâd never met before to the hospital because of a hit he made.
In that moment, two lives were forever changed, and eventually an unbreakable friendship developed.
âA bond formed through a tragedy,â Coleman called it.
The hit broke the C4 vertebrae in Gentryâs neck, paralyzing the then 20-year-old from the neck down, and leaving Coleman with grief and guilt.
Gentry underwent two surgeries.
It took a couple of weeks before Coleman mustered the nerve to visit Gentry. The frightened 17-year-old wasnât sure what type of situation he was walking into at the hospital. He brought a friend for support.
But when Coleman arrived, he didnât find resentment or bitterness from the Gentry family. Instead he found love and compassion, hugs and reassurances.
Gentryâs father, Bob, greeted Coleman at the door to the room, thanked him for coming, looked Coleman in the eyes and told him in no uncertain terms he didnât do anything wrong. âHe said, âI donât blame you,â â Coleman said.
When Coleman walked to the bed, Tyson told him the same thing: It was a legal hit; he didnât do anything wrong.
âIt was a freak accident,â Gentry said from his home in Tampa, Florida. âBut at that time I donât think I understood the guilt Kurt was feeling. It was one of those things where I was so caught up in what I was going through.â
Coleman believes the meeting saved his career.
âThis game, you canât play it half speed,â Coleman said. âI think the moment that he gave me the reassurance that I was OK to play football, a tremendous calmness came over me.â
The two menâs lives have headed in different directions but they remain close friends.
âWhenever Kurt has an interception we just yell and scream,â said Gentryâs wife, Megan. âWe love that he has found a home in Carolina.â
âI could not be more proud of him,â Gentry said. âTo have the fortitude and work ethic he has ⌠â
When the Panthers reached the Super Bowl, Gentry sent a text message to Coleman telling him âYouâre awesome, keep living the dream.â
Gentry hasnât stopped living, either.
He recently received his masterâs degree in injury rehabilitation. He remains paralyzed from the neck down other than some use of his biceps.
He canât move his fingers but keeps forging ahead. Gentry recently started the âNew Perspective Foundation,â which provides financial assistance for families of spinal cord injury victims. Theyâve helped 10 families in Ohio and Florida and hope to reach all 50 states.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Hereâs why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.