Ex-Ohio State football player details almost becoming paralyzed in horrifying ordeal

Former Ohio State football player Davon Hamilton has had a strong NFL career. The defensive tackle was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was a really strong player for the Buckeyes over the course of his career. He was named third-team All-Big Ten in his final season with the team.

Hamilton has played his entire career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He now starts for the team and is one of their best defensive players. He is someone who is good enough to make an impact in both the run game and the pass game. When he was with the Ohio State Buckeyes, he just always seemed to make plays.

Things have not been all rosy for Hamilton in his NFL career, however. While he's been solid on the field, he recently detailed a scary incident in which he almost became paralyzed. He detailed the scary event that unfolded back in the early part of the 2023 season.

Former Ohio State football player Davon Hamilton details almost becoming paralyzed

Hamilton talked to ESPN's Michael DiRocco about the scary situation. Apparently, Hamilton had an infection in his spinal cord. Officially, the diagnosis was a spinal epidural abscess with severe spinal cord compression. Essentially, he was minutes away from being paralyzed until they found out what was happening to him.

"This is a professional athlete. He cannot lift his legs off the bed. He was almost paralyzed at this point. This was a minutes-can-make-a-difference kind of thing."

Hamilton ended up going through emergency surgery to drain it and get him feeling healthy. Hamilton ended up getting healthy and played eight games in 2023. Last season, he had perhaps the best season of his career up to this point. He is a really good player after the surgery.

Former Ohio State football player Davon Hamilton had an incredibly rare infection

While the incident happened three years ago, Hamilton is still the only young person who is in great shape to have ever had the infection. Per DiRocco, doctors have still been trying to find a case of a young, healthy person experiencing this. Hamilton remains the only one.

"Kaplan, who is entering his 18th season with the Jaguars, presented Hamilton's case in February 2025 in Indianapolis. He hadn't seen a spinal epidural abscess since medical school training and knew it was rare in a healthy person, but maybe someone else had encountered it. Hamilton is still the only one."

No matter what Hamilton does after this point in his NFL career, it's all gravy. He had a random infection that almost ended his ability to walk. Playing football is just the cherry on top of his life moving forward. He is lucky that the doctors figured out what was wrong before things were too late.

Heading into next year, the Jaguars have a lot of hope that they can win the AFC South and make a deep run in the playoffs. Hamilton is part of the reason they have that belief.

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