The article is click bait. Reading it, you would almost think Deone played his junior season in a wheel chair. Speaking as a spondylolysis patient myself, the term "broken back" has connotations that do not apply here. It's a chip on a vertebra. Discomfort is easily treated with a common injection that can be repeated. Here is the tell. The NFL draft is the financial opportunity of a lifetime for most of these kids. If I am reading correctly, spondylolysis is a common condition among people who do heavy work. If Deone believed his 2024 season was significantly comprised by a back injury that "healed itself", he would return for his senior year, bet on himself, and improve his draft position. I'm not digging on Deone here. I'm putting the article and its use of the phrase "broken back" in context. Deone did not have a very good season, but I doubt this was the primary reason.
