Around 2:20 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Kristofer Curtis, who has been missing from Syracuse football practice due to injury, tweeted out that he "never thought the days of me being an athlete would be over so soon." Shortly after that predictably spread like wildfire through, he then changed course, claiming that someone else had gone on his account and tweeted that out. Strange, so we just had to wait for the official word, which came late Wednesday night, via Nolan Weidner.
"I found out this afternoon, late, that our doctors have recommended that Kris, because of his medical issues, will not be able to play again," Marrone said.
The coach said he was waiting to speak with the player and his parents, but Curtis went on Twitter and announced that his career was over during SU’s afternoon practice in the Carrier Dome.
While Marrone and the school remained mum on exactly what happened to Curtis, he tweeted out "bad back" in response to that question. At this point, I think we can assume that was actually him and not some mysterious injury tweeter.
Well, first and foremost that sucks for Kris. Clearly he wasn't ready to end his playing career and it must be pretty heartbreaking to hear that news.
What double-sucks for Curtis is that he never actually saw the field for a Syracuse Orange football game. He redshirted last year due to an ankle injury. He was slotted as the team's starting left tackle before this injury took him off the depth chart and the team permanently.
For SU, its a tough, tough break. The offensive line is already off-kilter with Justin Pugh's injury. Now, we'll likely spend the first month of the season without two guys who very likely would have been starters. Marrone clearly had high hopes for Curtis as well.
Good luck to Curtis in his post-football career. We all move forward...