Dispatch
OSU FOOTBALL
Gentry gets chance to say thank you
He?s grateful for support after neck injury
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
JEFF HINCKLEY DISPATCH Tyson Gentry, who broke a vertebra in April, and his father, Bob, watch the Ohio State-Northern Illinois game Sept. 2.
Sometime during the Ohio State-Penn State game on Saturday, Tyson Gentry will get a chance to acknowledge all the fans who have encouraged him during his recovery from a broken neck.
Alongside Gentry will be someone who four years ago had that same chance.
Former Penn State player Adam Taliaferro is coming to Columbus this weekend. He suffered a fractured vertebra playing against the Buckeyes in 2000.
He recovered to walk again and received a standing ovation from the Ohio Stadium crowd during the 2002 Penn State game.
In an April practice, Gentry, a junior punter-receiver for the Buckeyes, suffered an injury similar to Taliaferro?s. The two have spoken several times by phone but have not met.
"Just knowing that he?s gone through this and he has been there before is definitely something to look up to and know that big things are possible," Gentry said. "So we definitely need to meet him."
Taliaferro feels the same.
"I just wanted the opportunity to see Tyson and put a face to a name and see how he?s doing," he said.
The two first spoke just days after Gentry?s injury, while Gen- try was recovering from a second surgery in OSU Medical Center. Taliaferro had been taken there in 2000.
"I was nervous, I wasn?t sure how he would sound," Taliaferro said. "But he sounded remarkably well."
In the ensuing months, Gentry was visited several times by Taliaferro?s father, Andre, and spoke occasionally on the phone with Adam.
"I know it was uplifting for Tyson to get a chance to talk to him, and his dad has been up a couple different times to the hospital to visit us," said Tyson?s father, Bob Gentry.
"They?re very spiritual people, and it?s just nice to have someone who knows where you?ve been and they?re kind of doing it with you again, so it was very helpful."
Taliaferro walked out of a rehabilitation facility in January 2001, four months after his injury. Though his football career was over, he led Penn State onto the field for the 2001 opener.
Now 25, he suffers no longterm effects from the injury. He is in his second year of law school at Rutgers University.
Gentry?s recovery has been slower. He is in a wheelchair, with no lower-body movement and limited use of his arms. He fractured the C4 vertebra, one higher than the one Taliaferro broke.
"It?s going OK, getting a little better," Gentry said. "Nothing really that major with movement or anything. But strength is coming along a lot better, just tolerance; being able to sit upright better and everything like that."
In that regard, Taliaferro?s message to Gentry has been meaningful.
"I just tell him it?s going to be a marathon," Taliaferro said. "Anything he gets back is better than before. It?s a long process."
Gentry has been a spectator at as many OSU practices as possible, along with both home games so far. He remains in school, signed up for three classes this quarter.
He said he was touched by the OSU players wearing a "24" decal ? Gentry?s jersey number ? on their helmets.
He met with reporters in July for his first public appearance since the injury. But he?s really looking forward to his first chance to acknowledge the fans Saturday. He has received thousands of cards and e-mails since the injury.
"The amount of support and everything from the fans has been unbelievable," he said. "And (Saturday) is just as much for them as it is for me. They like to see that I?m here and everything, and I?m definitely happy to be out here, as well."
kgordon@dispatch.com
Although I don't think it would be overly sentimental to include him in the picture if he was able. 
