Graduate defensive end Davin Vann was in tears. Teammates rushed over to him. Every player on Wake Forest and NC State took a knee. The crowd in Carter-Finley Stadium went silent. The only concern was the health of graduate quarterback Grayson McCall.
On third-and-11 from Wake Forest’s 19-yard line, McCall dropped back to pass but couldn’t find an open receiver so he decided to scramble. McCall came close to the line to gain before being leveled by a cadre of Demon Deacon defenders. His helmet came flying off as he lost the football. Wake Forest picked up the fumble and took it all the way to NC State’s two-yard line but no one on the Wolfpack’s sideline was concerned about the Demon Deacons field position.
Before the play was whistled, NC State’s medical staff rushed onto the field to attend to McCall who was surrounded by a few of his teammates while he lay on the field motionless. McCall’s father, who was sporting his son’s jersey, was on the field soon after. It’s hard to imagine what was going through his head after seeing his son unconscious on a football field for the second time in less than a year.
NC State’s medical staff initially guided McCall’s father away from the scene but brought him and the rest of his family over when McCall seemingly became conscious. McCall’s family with their arms draped over each other watched as he was lifted onto the stretcher. McCall hugged his mom and gave a peace sign to the crowd before being carted off the field.
“I felt bad for him and his parents,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “You’re just trying to be comforting and pray for him in that moment.”
McCall tried to get up before he was put on the stretcher, but the medical staff wouldn’t let him. When he regained consciousness, he told Doeren that he wanted “the boys to win the game.”
In Doeren’s press conference, he said all reports from the hospital were positive on McCall.
It was a chilling scene that no one should ever have to witness, let alone McCall’s family. Unfortunately, people will blame head coach Dave Doeren for putting McCall in harm’s way by starting him or criticize the Wake player that hit McCall.
While that discussion will happen no matter how insensitive it is, the only thing that should matter is the health of a 23-year-old who seemingly suffered his second major head injury in the last year.
McCall considered walking away from football last year after he suffered a similar injury where he had to be carted off and missed the rest of the season with a concussion, but after discussions with his family and doctors, he decided to keep playing and wrap up his career at NC State.
“I had to have some tough conversations about whether I was even going to be able to play football again,” McCall said before the season. “Had to see a lot of doctors and have a lot of those conversations and at the end of the day, I didn’t think that I finished the way that I wanted to. I felt like I still had a lot of good football left in me.”
It’s easy to say now that McCall should’ve retired from football, but it’s not that simple. Imagine giving up the sport that you’ve committed your entire life to — a sport that you were good enough at to earn a free education and play at a level that earned you three Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year awards.
He was in a position where, if he had a good year with the Pack, he could’ve been drafted to the NFL and set up himself and his family financially for the rest of their lives while living out his dream of playing professional football. Imagine walking away from the possibility of that.
It’s not like McCall went against the order of his doctors either. He was cleared to play for the Wolfpack before the season and was healthy enough to suit up against the Demon Deacons. If McCall was cleared, neither himself nor Doeren was going to let his career end with him watching on the sideline.
“Grayson went through the entire protocol and was cleared and had a great week of practice,” Doeren said. “He’s our starting quarterback. He’s a captain, and you don’t lose your position to injury. He was ready to play, and he took a really vicious hit. Football is a very violent sport at times, and that was a big hit that he took, and I hate it for him. You just hate to see a guy get hit like that, and obviously the results of those kinds of hits are scary.”
McCall started the game looking like the player NC State thought it was getting when he transferred from Coastal Carolina. He completed three of his five passes for 42 yards and looked comfortable in the pocket, making decisive throws.
But the one time the play broke down like any other player with his competitive nature would, McCall looked to make a play to keep the drive alive. And now one has to question if that was the last play of McCall’s career.
The fact that the players on NC State were able to continue playing after that, let alone take a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, before falling 34-30 to Wake Forest Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium was admirable.
This was a player who came to Raleigh and immediately established himself as one of the leaders of the Wolfpack. McCall was quick to build relationships with everyone on the team and was named a team captain in his first season at NC State. Seeing a teammate who endeared himself to the team so quickly on the ground like that was difficult to move on from.
“It was heartbreaking to see that,” said graduate guard Timothy McKay. “He’s the guy who’s fought hard for us. He came here from Coastal as the captain, so seeing him go down earlier in the season and go down again this week is kind of disheartening. You know how hard he works for us. It’s really sad seeing that.”
For the next few days, there will be droves of people criticizing Doeren and NC State’s medical staff for letting him play. People will probably even blame McCall for putting himself in that position but when it comes down to it, the only worry should be about the future and well-being of Grayson McCall.
