Anybody know or heard about the status of this player? As a reminder, Hall, an OT, sustained a back injury that caused him to miss last Spring then apparently had back surgery that caused him to miss all of '23. One would think he's well into recovery by now so what's the likelihood of his return to the field? Back injuries, of course, are iffy and problematic but if Hall, the son of ex-UK OT AA Antonio Hall, can somehow recover it would be a huge plus moving forward. Appreciate any info anyone may have.
Nik Hall
- Thread starter mrschwump
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I heard the same remarks from CMS. It was more in the tone of "Nik is no longer an option". At least that is the way I read his comment based on the context of that conversation.
Kind of hard to see an O lineman recovering from a serious back issue that required surgery to fix able to play and take the constant pounding afterwards. Every game snap, every practice rep, run or pass, he'd have to raise up and slam against D linemen 250-350 lbs.
Stoops did say he was "out", but he didn't say he was done. I took his comment to mean that he was still an option for the future. The way we have recruited Tackles this season, it would appear that Hall could return and play in the future.
We are extremely thin at Tackle beyond this upcoming season. Hall was a late bloomer with a ton of potential. Hope he can return.
We are extremely thin at Tackle beyond this upcoming season. Hall was a late bloomer with a ton of potential. Hope he can return.
Hope all the Malachi Wood talk is legit, that would be huge both literally and figuratively.
Plus the losses in the weight room from a very extended absence. If he can somehow come back to even moderately high/major cfb it would be a surprise. To make it back and play in the sec would be nearly miraculous
Back injuries can easily be career enders. It was a back injury that ended Drew Barker’s career. Really hate it, especially for guys who have a lot of promise.
Per Roush, here was Stoops’ comment on the matter at media day:
“Nik had an injury and I think he is going to have to take a medical redshirt. There’s another tackle there that had some promise but had an injury and is going to have a hard time coming back.”
It's hard to tell if he's talking about Nik or "another" tackle having a hard time coming back.
“Nik had an injury and I think he is going to have to take a medical redshirt. There’s another tackle there that had some promise but had an injury and is going to have a hard time coming back.”
It's hard to tell if he's talking about Nik or "another" tackle having a hard time coming back.
Just saying that it's hard to tell if he meant "there are now 2 OT's who are going to have a hard time" or "he's going to miss this season and we different OT that is going to have a hard time coming back at all."
Someone should have asked a follow up though I'm sure it would have been dismissed due to nature of the injury and privacy issues.
These days the back surgery will probably fix him. They fuse the segment causing the problem so there is no more pain. Flexibility is not lost. Many athletes including football players have this operation and recover. Last I heard, Hall was on the road to recovery and still intends to play. He just needs to get himself back into shape.
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