Exactly a year ago, JT Daniels took a hit that ended his college football career.
Daniels, the starting Rice quarterback, couldn’t see straight after Southern Methodist linebacker Ahmad Walker took him to the ground in the second quarter. A wobbly Daniels stayed in the game, however, and even threw a touchdown pass two plays later that he had zero memory of doing. His head coach said after the game Daniels admitted to him he didn’t remember the play or the score.
Daniels was assessed with concussion-like symptoms at halftime and didn’t return to what would be his last college game in a winding journey that went from USC to Georgia to West Virginia before finally finishing at Rice. At the time, Daniels was the conference’s passing leader and a former five-star recruit, but he couldn’t shake the balance and ocular issues that came with the hit against SMU.
“I couldn’t drive for two, three months,” Daniels told CBS Sports. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to see straight again. When you experience that, it makes it pretty difficult to say I want to go out and do that again.”
Daniels, a sixth-year senior, medically retired following his doctor’s advice in the aftermath of that concussion against SMU on Nov. 4, 2023, his fourth during his career, a month later in Dec. 2023. He was a precursor to what came last week when North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall and Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle both medically retired due to concussions. When told of the news last week, Daniels said, “Grayson McCall retired? No shit, I did not know that.”
Two veteran quarterbacks retiring the same week is not a trend, but it does warrant closer examination of a hot-button topic that has drawn NFL headlines this season and could only get more…
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