Minshew tried to break his own hand in college for medical redshirt
The legend of Gardner Minshew continues to grow.
The Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie quarterback has revealed he attempted to break his throwing hand while at East Carolina in order to receive a medical redshirt and be eligible for an additional year of football.
"It was my first year there," Minshew said on Friday's episode of Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast. "I went there from junior college and the situation was I had two seniors above me, so I was hoping to go in, redshirt, and be able to play three (seasons). It was an awesome setup, you know?
The situation didn't play out as Minshew had hoped, however. After team injuries forced him into game action for a single half, he realized his chance to receive a redshirt was in jeopardy.
"So I'm like 'dang, man, I just played a half and I really wasted a year on playing a half of ball,' you know? So I was pretty pissed and started looking around at what I can do, what my options were. And the only thing I could do would be to get a medical redshirt. But if I played in this next game, then that would be off the table.
"So I get an idea. I go home, I grab a bottle of Jack Daniel's and I grab a hammer. I go back to my room and take a pull of Jack Daniel's, put my hand down on the table and - Boom! Boom! Boom! One, two, three - (I) hit the hell out of my hand, dude. I'm sitting there shaking but I know it's not broke, so I'm like 'God, come on.' I take another pull. One, two, three, again, still nothing. I'm just shaking at this point, man. I knew it wasn't broken so one more time, another pull, another three hits, and that was all I could take. I couldn't break my own hand.
Unfortunately for Minshew, he failed to obtain a redshirt and finished that year with the Pirates. He later transferred to Washington State.
"Yeah, I mean, I ended up playing some," he said. "It was good getting that experience. But dude, I had a swollen-ass hand for about a few weeks. I just told the coaches I closed it in a car door."
The 2019 sixth-round pick is coming off his first career NFL win in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans.