Ex-Lion Utley To Walk Again

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 11, 1999 / 6:36 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

The last time Mike Utley took a step by himself in public, he was an offensive guard for the Detroit Lions, moving to block another player in a game at the Silverdome on Nov. 17, 1991.

Utley lost his balance, sending his 6-foot-6, 315-pound body down on his head and neck, crushing his sixth and seventh vertebrae.

Seven years later, Utley is prepared to walk next week -- to take at least one or two steps unassisted for the first time since the accident.

Utley, 33, is expected to take his first public steps Monday in Phoenix, flanked by two friends -- Lions linebacker Rob Fredrickson and former NFL center Bill Lewis -- with a handful of reporters as witnesses.

"Doctors at Craig Hospital in Denver are calling this remarkable but not miraculous," Utley's spokeswoman, Allison Ward, was quoted as saying in Thursday's issues of the Detroit Free Press.

Although Utley was told he probably would never walk again, he never quit trying.

He learned to move in a wheelchair and with crutches. He learned to drive a specially equipped car, to ski and to skydive. He lifted weights to keep his upper body strong. And he vowed someday to walk.

Because Utley has what is considered an "incomplete injury," Ward said, he has been able to regain some feeling in his extremities and, to a certain extent, some use of his legs.

"In view of that and in view of the fact Mike has been busting his butt in the gym seven days a week for the last several years," Ward said, "he's to the point where he's regaining some movement. This is really just a story of gritting it out. He has never given up, and he is one of the most physically healthy guys out there who has been injured in the game."

Much of the progress has occurred in the past month, Ward said. Utley has tested his ability to walk -- a step or two at a time -- wearing shoes with leg braces. Ms. Ward said he now is ready to go public with his improvement.

"He's not saying that he's walking," she said. "The term he's using is that he's 'taking steps,' which is a long way from actually walking but is a huge improvement and a huge show of determination."

Utley issued this statement: "My job now has been to work hard to get back on my feet again. Just recently, I have accomplished what some doctors told me was impossible. I stood up and took a few steps. This injury does change you if you let it. I won't let it."