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Ravens defensive end Brent Urban had a challenging path to get where he is, as a 33-year-old heading into his 11th NFL season.
As a freshman in college, Urban suffered a torn ACL. As a senior in college, Urban suffered an ankle injury that required surgery after the season and affected his pre-draft preparation. As a rookie for the Ravens, Urban suffered another torn ACL in training camp and never got on the field. In his second season he suffered a torn biceps in training camp and missed most of the season. The fourth and final season of his rookie contract saw Urban suffer a season-ending foot injury after just three games.
In seven years since then, Urban has signed seven one-year contracts, as teams just weren’t interested in a long-term commitment to an injury-prone player. But Urban has persevered, bouncing around the league with the Titans, Bears and Cowboys before returning to the Ravens, where coach John Harbaugh now sees him as the epitome of a player who wouldn’t give up.
“I’m going to start using [Urban] as an example for those guys, because it’s a perfect point,” Harbaugh said, via BaltimoreRavens.com. “Those first couple of years were tough, and here he is now. He’s got a testimony as a result of all the tests he’s been through.”
Urban is the only player from the Ravens’ 2014 draft class who’s on the team now. (Only one other player the Ravens drafted in 2014, Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley, is still in the league.) Urban has outlasted a lot of players who looked like safer bets early on, when Urban couldn’t stay healthy.
“Just being in the league is privilege,” Urban said. “Every single day, you’ve just got to relish it, because you see so many guys in and out, and just even looking at my class now, nobody’s still around. So just finding your own role, just appreciating it. As I get older, I’ve started to be able to take a seat back and really just appreciate how thankful I am to be here. When you’re young, your nose is on the grindstone, you’re just…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/john-harbaugh-brent-urban-example-092406076.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-04 09:24:06
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