FAYETTEVILLE, AR—Claiming that his participation in the sport steered him away from the poor choices he had been making as a child, local junior college linebacker Steven Colner, who will be left paralyzed by the sport in a year, told reporters Thursday that football “saved [his] life.” “Football made me the person I am today, and I’m so grateful for that,” said the man who next summer will be rendered incapable of movement from the waist down by a routine tackle during summer training camp. “My coaches put me on the right path, and it gave me an alternative to so many of the bad choices my friends were making. I don’t want to think what my life would’ve been like without it.” The man who will soon be confined to a wheelchair then told reporters he cannot wait to teach the sport to his future children.

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