Beantown Shakedown – Tribe Wins a Laffey…errr..Laugher
May 7, 2009Changing The Ink in the Pen
May 7, 2009Back in December, I was asked by Rick to write a guest article about my friend, former Ohio State walk-on Tyson Gentry. At that time, Tyson was nominated for the Orange Bowl Courage award. If you’re not familiar with his story, I recommend first checking out the story from December to familiarize yourself with Tyson’s story. I asked Tyson this week if he’d be willing to do an interview, and he graciously agreed. We talked about his rehab, what the future holds, the 2009 Buckeyes, his apparent selection in the NFL Draft, and this year’s Browns.
Denny: First off, thanks so much for agreeing to this interview with me. How have things been progressing in terms of your rehab?
TG: Everything has been going real well, as of late. The therapy I’ve been doing I’ve been up in a harness over a treadmill and I was having problems with the harness causing discomfort, but it’s kind of a good thing and a bad thing. I’ve always had sensation everywhere, but never to the point where the harness is bothering me. (Denny’s note: you can see a video of his treadmill training here)
In the last few months the harness has been a bit more irritating than it was in the past, so I was starting to not enjoy going to therapy because I had to keep getting down off the harness during the session. I’d have to keep getting down to adjust the harness and I wasn’t getting enough time in my four areas – step retraining, step adaptability, stand retraining and stand adaptability. I’m supposed to get a certain number of minutes in each area, and with other people waiting for their sessions, I wasn’t getting enough time in each. Now we’ve got a different system worked out with new padding and so I haven’t had to worry about getting down as much. In the past few weeks I’ve been getting back in my normal rhythm of therapy, and I’ve started to feel good about going to therapy, rather than dreading going in. All in all, things are definitely going real well right now.
Denny: As you’ve continued to work at your recovery, I know there’s been a lot of people that have helped you out – who would you say has been the most important?
TG: There’s different categories with everything – obviously my family has been the biggest help. My parents come down on weekends, or I’ll go back up to visit them. My sister Ashley has been taking care of my when she’s not in school. My older sister is there when she can be, as she’s got things going on with her life as well.
I’ve got friends that come over and hang out, and friends that will call to catch up. Different things like that – there’s a guy that’s in the military and is a drill instructor. He’s been writing me letters since I was in the hospital, and I’ve met him a few times. He’ll write me letters just letting me know what he’s got going on with training and traveling. There have been a lot of people who have been there supporting me and it’s helped a lot.
Denny: Along those same lines, it’s been pretty apparent from the day of your accident that your coaches and teammates care very deeply about your progress. How has the continued support from your teammates affected you over the past 2 years?
TG: It’s definitely helped a lot. I remember early on going to practice and, obviously with any life changing injury or anything like that, I was sad watching all my friends still practicing, and I was dealing with the fact that I couldn’t be out there playing anymore. But at the same time, ever since the injury teammates and coaches have been there for me to help pick me up and treat me as an equal part of the team, so they’ve been huge support. Even guys who have graduated or gone on to play in the NFL, whenever they’re home they’ll drop in and check in on how I’m doing, so there’s support there as well.
Denny: Going along with that, being involved with the team I noticed that you were down in Glendale this year with the team at the Fiesta Bowl. How was that trip?
TG: It was great – the weather was the best part. I’ll take hot over cold any day, I hate the cold since my injury since my body tightens up and everything, so it’s nice to get a vacation away from the cold. So obviously the trip went really well, then again the whole thing with the game – it was a really tough loss, especially to come down to the end like that. I was definitely happy that it was a good game, there’s all the talk that we were going to get shown up again, get blown out in a bowl game again so it was good.
Denny: Looking forward, how do you think 2009 is going to go for the Buckeyes?
TG: I think they’ll do just fine. I know that there’s a lot of guys on both sides of the ball that need to step up. Terelle is just taking control of the team and stepping up and being a leader. So are the running back spots, the O line spots, and the defensive side as well. Guys need to step up, but with the type of program that Ohio State is, you know you’ve got the guys in position to be ready to step up and the coaches will have everyone ready. It’ll be interesting to see because people have to step up in the main positions, it’ll be good to see how the coaches adapt to that. The strenght will be a little bit differently distibuted compared to last year and years past, so it’ll be neat to see how the team evolves to fit the talent on the team.
Denny: Speaking of guys on the team, what do you think of Terelle Pryor’s new tattoo?
TG: Haha, I haven’t even heard anything – what is it?
Denny: It’s the Block O, leaves and buckeyes, pretty much his entire forearm – it’s probably about the size of my whole back.
TG: Nice – I dunno, that’s the first I’ve heard of it. Good to see him taking pride in Ohio State.
Denny: To risk sounding a little bit cliche, there are a lot of people who look to you for inspiration. How do you respond to this, and who do you draw inspiration from?
TG: My biggest thing all along has been to remain positive. One of the best things that helps me out is that positive things have come from my injury. Being able to help people that are going through and have gone through the same things – I’ve talked to ten or twenty different people that are similar injuries or have different things going through their life. They’ve got questions that haven’t been answered – doctors can only say so much, you know? You can only really take to heart so much what a doctor says, but to hear from somebody who is going through what you are going through definitely helps a lot, and it means a lot to help people out. One, it means that I’m making a difference in their life, and two, it means I’m still able to contribute in some way, I’m not just a guy in a wheelchair.
Motivation and inspiration for me, my big thing from the beginning has been perspective. Things are really put into perspective when your life is changed like this, and when I was in the hospital, seeing people with brain injuries or spinal cord injuries worse than mine really made me appreciate what I have. I mean yea, it sucks being in a wheelchair, and I wish I wasn’t in a wheelchair, but at the same time there’s still people that have it way worse than I do and I try to keep that in mind. That definitely helps me when I’m having bad days.
Denny: Your dad played football for Woody Hayes back in the 70s – how did his experience help prepare when you were going out and you were trying out?
TG: Obviously with him playing, I’ve been a Buckeye fan my whole life. I can remember wearing his jersey when I Was in second or third grade for Halloween. It was one of those things I remember growing up a kid being a big fan. Just getting the opportunity to be a part of the team was just a dream come true. It was one of those things I always thought about and knew that I was capable of achieving, it was just a matter of things falling into place to get the opportunity.
Another thing from my injury, I really believe everything happens for a reason, and I was definitely settled on going to Capital to play football and Ohio State’s recruiting coordinator started talking to me about the possibility of coming on as a punter, because they remembered my name from when I went to the kicking camp at OSU and started talking to me about walking on. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t at least try, and the rest is history. Just knowing the chance to get the opportunity to play was a dream come true – the fact that my dad had played too was just added to that.
Denny: What has been the one memory from your time at Ohio State as a member of the football team that you’ll never forget?
TG: For sure running out of the tunnel. Everybody says that, but the biggest thing I’ll always remember was my sophomore year (Denny note: Nov 2005) we played Michigan at Michigan and I got the chance to travel. Just to be in the Big House, and the way that we beat them, coming back at the end to win the Big Ten for the second year in a row. Just to be a part of that, being in their stadium and beting them the way we did is just a great memory.
Denny: How do you feel about being passed on in this year’s NFL Draft?
TG: Actually, I’m not so sure if you watched this year’s draft. Clearly I was picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs. I actually changed my last name to Jackson now. I changed my name from Tyson Gentry to Tyson Jackson. Also, I’m a defensive end.
Denny: Oh, well things change.
TG: I know you’re a busy guy, so yea – thought I’d let you know.
Denny: You’ll be finishing up your BA in Speech and Hearing Science come June. What are your plans now that you are graduating in a month?
TG: Well I’m just taking the summer off. I’ll be starting graduate school at OSU to get my Masters in Speech Language Pathology.
Denny: Lastly, what’s your prediction on the Browns this year?
TG: I was listening to the radio today, and there were NFL power rankings out already. The Browns were listed at 30th out of 32, ahead of Detroit and St Louis. I was a bit dissapointed in that. They’ll do better than last year, but things have been shuffled so much that there might not be a real step up of leadership, but hopefully I’m wrong.
My prediction? Super Bowl, all the way.
Denny: Will they win?
TG: Oh yea, for sure.
Denny: Alright, it’s documented sir.
TG: The Browns are making history.
—
Thanks again to Tyson for doing this interview. We wish him nothing but the best as he works towards one day walking again.
8 Comments
[…] the whole thing here, and then attempt to resume complaining about other drivers while attempting to compose emails on […]
great work here Denny….
Great Story. Tyson is such an inspiration to everyone.
Thanks, Denny. Definitely found out some things I hadn’t known through other stories of Tyson. He is such a great guy and an inspiring story for everyone no matter what team you root for. I remember playing him in some passing scrimmages in high school and just remember him being one hell of an athlete and a pretty nice guy.
sounds like tyson is doing great and thats good to hear! a true buckeye through and through
[…] excellence went to the Brownies’ own Brian Robiskie. Also recieving multiple awards was former walk-on Tyson Gentry. Big ups to these guys, hopefully they can transfer their previous successes as they go forward […]
Tyson great work
[…] is currently working towards his Masters degree from OSU. For those not familiar with his story, check out the interview we did with him in […]