Miami DL Jason Blissett medically retires due to head injuries. ‘It hurts to walk away’
Jason Blissett Jr. is medically retiring due to repeated head injuries, the defensive lineman announced Monday.
Blissett, who was a rotational contributor for the Miami Hurricanes last season, revealed his retirement on Instagram in an emotional six-minute video.
“I’ve been struggling a lot with my own head injuries and if you’ve known me, followed me since high school I’ve had multiple concussions and stuff like that,” Blissett said, wearing a Miami hat and fighting back tears. “It’s obviously something very common in the football world and it definitely does take a toll on you mentally, emotionally as far as your relationships go with everybody.”
Blissett played in nine games last year, recording seven tackles as a reserve at defensive end and defensive tackle. He also played in one game during a redshirt season in 2019, logging two tackles and one tackle for loss.
Blissett revealed he has suffered multiple concussions dating back to his high school days at Poly Prep Country Day in Brooklyn, and has struggled to participate in workouts and weightlifting.
“I can’t work out no more. It’s hard for me to lift and stuff like that. ... It’s just been hard to do everything, really. I just don’t feel like the same person,” Blissett said. “Football is a burden right now that I can’t deal with and it hurts. It really does hurt a lot. It hurts to walk away from it.”
Blissett arrived in Coral Gables as one of the highest ranked players in the Hurricanes’ Class of 2019. A four-star defensive tackle in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Blissett was an enticing athlete at 6-foot-4 and 262 pounds, and was poised to become an important contributor this coming season following the departures of star defensive ends Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche.
While Miami doesn’t typically disclose reasons for players’ absences, Blissett did not play in the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Blissett also missed the Hurricanes’ game against the Virginia Tech Hokies, although it’s unclear whether this was due to a head injury, COVID-19 or some other reason.
In the video announcing his retirement, Blissett said he wanted to share his story with other athletes who may be struggling with head injuries.
“I’m making this to really just reach out to other athletes in collegiate level, high school level, even the young ones who have dreams of actually going somewhere one day with this,” he said. “Football has done a lot for me and it’s put me in a position to meet a lot of people, experience a lot of things, make a lot of friends and all that, but there’s a lot that comes with it that doesn’t get talked enough about with this.”
Blissett is the third Miami player to have his career end because of head or neck injuries in the last five years. In 2017, former defensive back Malek Young’s career was cut short because of a neck injury. In 2018, former wide receiver Ahmonn Richards was also medically disqualified because of a neck injury.
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 8:33 PM.
