Defensive back Ryan Watts goes through drills at Texas Longhorns Football Pro Day at Frank Denius Fields Wednesday March 20, 2024.

nfl

Severe Neck Injury Forces Steelers Cornerback To Step Away From Football

Steelers' corner forced to end career even before a single snap in the NFL

Defensive back Ryan Watts goes through drills at Texas Longhorns Football Pro Day at Frank Denius Fields Wednesday March 20, 2024.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ general manager Omar Khan has announced the terrible news of second-year safety Ryan Watts having to discontinue his football playing career due to a serious neck injury the player suffered in the final preseason game of the 2024 season.

Khan sent out a message on social media addressing the heartbreaking news as he announced that the team is releasing Ryan Watts from its roster following consultations with the Steelers’ medical team, medical experts, and the player himself, who have all come to the mutual decision that this is the best step forward. The Steelers will continue to support Watts as he gets ready for the next phase in his life.

Steelers are releasing former sixth-round pick Ryan Watts. A statement from GM Omar Khan: pic.twitter.com/Y7EE7Am3ZA
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 28, 2025

What Injury Did Watts Suffer?

During the final preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions last season, Watts went in for a tackle on a run play and suffered severe contact. The exact spot of the contact could not be picked up since several bodies were huddled together, being a run play, however, Watts was immediately seen twitching on the ground, writhing in pain.

Diagnosed as a stinger, Watts ended up missing the entirety of his rookie season and also underwent surgery in January 2025. Despite going under the knife, there was no clear communication on his possibility of returning to football. However, the latest statement from Khan has put to bed any possibility of that happening.

Ryan Watts’ Football Background Prior to Injury

Watts played as a cornerback who was selected by the Steelers in the sixth round with the 195th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The young 23-year-old was unfortunately unable to play even a single game in the NFL, as his injury occurred in the final preseason game of the season last year.

However, Watts had a pretty decent collegiate career. Born in Little Elm, Texas, the former corner attended Little Elm High School, where he was ranked as the 29th best corner in the country. He then joined Ohio State, where he played on the Buckeyes’ football team in 2020 and 2021, following which he transferred to Texas to play for the Longhorns in 2022 and 2023. In his 41 collegiate games over four years, Watts recorded 100 tackles and 3 interceptions before declaring for the 2024 draft.

Also Read: NFL Analyst explains Deion Sanders’ part in son Shedeur’s slide to 5th Round

NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ryan Watts

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!