Emerson Phillips
For most pro athletes – and especially for young people aspiring to be one – it’s not all fame and glamour and big-money contracts and endorsement deals.
Far from it, in fact.
Here’s what life can be like for an underdog, little-known athlete trying to latch on to any NFL team that will give him a shot at making the roster (and the money that comes with it).
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This is Tarik Cohen. What you’re about to see him experience in this video is simply tragic.
Cohen was a fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2017 and had a strong rookie year as a running back and kick returner. He made All-Pro as a punt returner in 2018 when he led the NFL with 33 runbacks for 411 yards, Last year he played in just three games before suffering torn knee ligaments and missing the rest of the season.
He was cut by the Bears in March and is now a free agent, meaning he’s out of a job. He’s not under contract with any NFL team at present but is free to sign with any team that wants to pick him up. Even if a team signs him, he’ll still have to go through preseason training camp, outperform other players, and survive more personnel cuts to make the final 53-man roster.
So he’s spent the past 7-8 months repairing and rehabbing his knee in an effort to get back into NFL playing shape – busting his ass in the gym with weight lifting, cardio work and agility drills.- hoping that an NFL team will give him a chance to go to training camp and make the roster.
And then this happens.
The incident was seen on Instagram Live. Almost certainly a ruptured Achilles tendon. Listen closely and you can actually hear it pop.
At worst, Cohen’s playing days are over. At best, it’s more surgery repair and rehab, with no guarantee that he’ll ever be signed by an NFL team and get another shot in the league.
