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'I Want to Thank the Lord': Injured Steeler Credits God for Comeback, Media Deletes 'God' from Coverage

01-11-2018
Kayla Root
Ryan Shazier
Ryan Shazier
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier visited his teammates Wednesday for the first time since suffering a spinal injury last month during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
 
According to ESPN, Shazier was injured on December 4, and  underwent spinal stabilization surgery three days later at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).
 
Details on the extent of his injury have remained scarce, but a report by WPXI-Pittsburgh stated that he has recently regained feeling in his legs since the accident.
 
More recently, Shazier posted to Instagram a picture of him in a wheelchair at the Steelers' indoor practice facility.
 
In his post, Shazier credits God for allowing him to achieve this "first downs" by attending practice.
 
Shazier writes, "I want to thank the Lord for the first downs that he has been allowing me to achieve. The touchdown is going to come in his timing, but today was a first down. I was finally able to make it to practice with my teammates."
 
 

I want to thank the Lord for the first downs that he has been allowing me to achieve. The touchdown is going to come in his timing, but today was a first down. I was finally able to make it to practice with my teammates. It’s great to be back for practices and meetings. Just to be able to feel a part of it means the world. So I’m working harder than I ever have to get back. Ive been making strides over the past month and continue to make progress. Taking it day-by-day, but I’m far from done. The Lord has not finished his work yet. I want to say thank you to the fans and Steelers Nation for the prayers. If it wasn’t for my family, friends and your prayers I wouldn’t be were I am now. They have lifted me and my family through this journey and I ask for you to continue praying for me, as I continue to work daily on improving my health. #Shalieve#Steelers#prayfor50

A post shared by Ryan Shazier (@shazier) on

 
He continues, "The Lord has not finished his work yet," and he goes on to thank his friends, families and teammates for the outpouring of prayers.
 
His father, Vernon Shazier, is a chaplain with the NFL and has remained active on Twitter seeking prayers for his son using the hashtags "#shalieve" and "#prayfor50."
 

Despite the heavy presence of prayer and mentions of God in both Shazier's posts and his father's, the Washington Post only quoted certain pieces.

The publication included Shazier's full Instagram post in the article, but cherry-picked out the pieces that weren't about God.
 
 
They made it seem like Shazier was only making a comeback on his own, quoting this excerpt: "I've been making strides over the past month and continue to make progress. Taking it day-by-day, but I'm far from done." They excluded the sentence that follows, "The Lord has not finished his work yet."
 
They also chose not to include Shazier's faith references at the beginning where he cites God in saying, "the touchdown will come in his timing, but today was a first down."
 
The Associated Press followed a similar path, deleting "God" from Shazier's account of his recovery.

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