Zach Banner visibly upset on Steelers sideline after potentially severe injury
Steelers lineman Zach Banner struggled to keep it together after a serious-looking injury.
Zach Banner was one of the great stories of the NFL offseason. So it was especially painful to watch him limp off the field with an apparently-serious knee injury late in his first game as the Steeler’s starting right tackle.
Banner’s knee appeared to collapse under his weight in the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh’s 26-16 win over the New York Giants.
He stayed down on the field for a long time before being helped off. Banner sat on the bench and was consoled by Ben Roethlisberger. That’s when the camera captured his heartbreaking expression.
Hard to see the look on Zach Banner’s face as he’s helped to the cart. Awful, awful moment for him after how hard he’s worked. pic.twitter.com/nKQNavHu8H
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 15, 2020
That’s the face of a man who knows his season might be over.
Zach Banner was visibly shaken on the sideline after his injury.
Anyone who knows Banner’s story knows why he was so emotional.
The behemoth offensive tackle was an All-American at USC who the Tennessee Titans drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
However, his time with the Colts wasn’t very long. The team cut Banner at the start of the 2017 season and he ended up playing for the Browns winless Cleveland Browns as a rookie.
The Browns waived the lineman the next spring. Then the Panthers took a chance on him. He was cut again after a few months in Carolina.
Banner’s weight had been the primary concern keeping him from finding a permanent home in the NFL. He has said previously he weighed 420 pounds at the end of his rookie season.
One last chance to remain in the league came from the Steelers, who signed Banner for the 2018 season. In Pittsburgh, Banner found his place and took his career more seriously. He transformed his body, weighing in ahead of the 2020 season at 335 pounds.
Slimmer and fitter than ever, Banner won the starting right tackle job for the Steelers.
Considering the ups and downs of his journey to that role, it was devastating to see it potentially taken away so soon. Hopefully, the injury was not as bad as it seemed.
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