A promising football star at North Carolina State is retiring from the sport at age 23 after suffering back-to-back concussions. The head injuries Grayson McCall suffered on Sept. 14 and Oct. 5 followed another concussion that brought the quarterback's 2023 season to an early end. "Brain specialists, my family and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to hang the cleats up," McCall wrote Wednesday on Instagram, per the News & Observer. Though he won't be playing, he is to remain a member of the Wolfpack, traveling and attending practices and meetings, says a university rep. He's expressed a desire to become a football coach.
McCall was playing for Coastal Carolina last fall when he was diagnosed with a concussion following helmet-to-helmet contact with an Arkansas State defender. He transferred to NC State this fall, then suffered a concussion during a Sept. 14 game against Louisiana Tech. He missed two games before returning Oct. 5, only to be knocked unconscious during the Wolfpack's first offensive drive. He lost his helmet before his head made contact with numerous defenders, reports the News & Observer.
"I have battled injuries my whole career, but this is one that I cannot come back from," McCall wrote Wednesday. "This game has taken me places I never thought I would go, and has shaped my family and I in ways I never imagined," he continued. "I have made so many memories that will stay with me forever, and I am so grateful for that." Though he said "I feel like my whole world is being taken from me," he added he has "no regrets," per ESPN. A three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year at Coastal Carolina, the North Carolina native ends his six-year career with 11,653 offense yards, 91 passing touchdowns, and 18 rushing touchdowns. (More college football stories.)
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