A medical issue unrelated to football has cost SMU a productive piece of its defensive secondary.
Taking to his personal Twitter account Tuesday evening, Elijah McQueen explained that, on Dec. 14 of last year, he “was informed that I would no longer be able to play the sport that I loved due to a condition called Cervical stenosis that I was born with.” As we have previously described, cervical stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal enveloping the spinal cord, preventing enough fluid to gather around the spinal cord to properly protect it from injury.
While initially distraught over being forced to retire from football, the defensive back wrote that he “can honestly say now that I am free & content with everything that has happened.”
— Coach E (@CoachEMcQueen) May 28, 2019
McQueen, a two-star 2017 signee, played in 24 games the past two seasons, starting four of those contests in 2018. The safety’s 64 tackles last year were good for fifth on the team.
