Shazier: 'I still want to make the Hall of Fame'

Despite having a long road of rehabilitation ahead of him, Ryan Shazier has big plans regarding his NFL future.

"I still want to make the Hall of Fame, still want to be the best linebacker in the NFL," Shazier told David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "I'm not giving up on my goals, and the doctors said don't give up on my goals, so there's no problem with me doing that. I'm just going to keep working, and hopefully I'm going to be back as soon as I can."

The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker suffered a spinal contusion against the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2017 season and later underwent spinal stabilization surgery.

Shazier missed the entire 2018 season while recovering from the injury and has been ruled out for 2019 as well. He's recently progressed to a walk without the use of a cane and various light back exercises.

His trainer and former high school teammate Jerome Howard credits the 26-year-old's resiliency for already defying the odds after the devastating injury.

"With his injury being so different, the biggest thing for us was just understanding where he was in his current place, (reaching a) few milestones along the way and then celebrating every win," Howard said.

"With someone with a work ethic like Ryan's, it’s not very hard. Anyone that's met him understands his optimism, his positivity, and he's never afraid to go above and beyond. We had our tough moments. We had our ups and downs, but with our relationship together, we were able to be 100 percent honest with each other, reflect."

This isn't the first time Shazier expressed optimism in making a full recovery, telling reporters in January he intends to continue rehabbing his back with hopes of playing football in the future.