'Scariest Thing of My Life': Saivion Smith Details Injury Against Patriots
Detroit Lions defensive back Savion Smith was all smiles when he spoke to the media in the locker room on Wednesday.
Against the New England Patriots, his first NFL start for the Lions, Smith laid motionless on the football field after attempting to jam Patriots tight end Hunter Henry.
After a collision, Smith fell awkwardly to the turf at Gillette Stadium.
He was soon placed in an ambulance and transported to a hospital, before being released to return home to Detroit on the team plane.
The scene was intense, as family members left the stands to join the ambulance in order to ride to the hospital with their injured family member.
Players on both sides stood by nervously, hoping their teammate and opponent would be okay.
"I'm blessed. I can walk, talk and move all my arms and legs. So, I'm feeling good," Smith told reporters Wednesday in the locker room.
For the 24-year-old, the injury was described as the 'scariest thing in my life."
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For nearly 20 seconds, Smith could not get any words out, and his inability to move triggered all of the worst imaginable thoughts a football player could have.
"That was the scariest thing in my life," Smith described. “I never had nothing like that happened. Like, even like having like a concussion in high school. I never had, even my foot injury in college, that was the scariest thing in my life. Not being able to move."
Smith elaborated that he experienced a neck and spine injury against the Patriots. After the contact with Henry, "a bone in my body hit my spine and caused me to lock up like that. So it was like a disc, like a bulging disc."
After a stint with the 49ers, Smith was claimed by the Lions in December of 2021.
This season, the talented defensive back started the year on the team's practice squad.
He was promoted to the active roster on October 8, just prior to the game against New England.
With his 2022 season over, Smith is awaiting surgery next month in order to resume his playing career.
Smith is not going to allow the injury to scare him away from returning and having a productive career.
In fact, he is eager to return and play this season, even though that will not occur.
"It's just part of football," Smith said. "That could have happened any play, any time to anybody. That could have happen to the average Joe that works at McDonald's. If he slipped and fell, you know what I'm saying. I feel like it's part of the game, a part of life. So, just do nothing but getting the surgery, rehab and get back."
Smith expects the rehab process to take approximately five months and is targeting a return to the team by OTA's in 2023.
