Watch TSU’s Christion Abercrombie announce his friend as Titans’ fifth-round pick
.JPG "Christion Abercrombie, who suffered a life-threatening brain injury while playing for the Tennessee State Tigers in the fall, announced the Tennessee Titans’ fifth-round selection of D’Andre Walker.")
It has been almost seven months since Christion Abercrombie, a sophomore linebacker for the Tennessee State Tigers, suffered a severe head injury early in the 2018 season.
On Saturday, Abercrombie made another public appearance in Nashville to announce the Tennessee Titans’ fifth-round pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Titans and Abercrombie couldn’t have planned a better outcome. By pure coincidence, Abercrombie, an Atlanta native, got to announce the selection of Georgia Bulldogs linebacker D’Andre Walker, whom Abercrombie played with when the two were young.
Abercrombie pumped up the crowd as he walked to the podium in Tennessee, then, in his still recovering speech, he announced the Titans’ pick.
“With the 168th pick of the 2019 NFL Draft,” Abercrombie said, “the Tennessee Titans select my friend D’Andre Walker.”
Abercrombie, who began his college career with the Illinois Fighting Illini, suffered the life-threatening brain injury in a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the fall. The linebacker complained of a headache on the sidelines before collapsing and being rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for emergency brain surgery. Abercrombie’s recovery happened quicker than anticipated and returned home later in the fall. He recently attended Tennessee State’s spring game April 13, where he said he would like to return to football.
During his recovery, Abercrombie forged a relationship with Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who came to visit Abercrombie in the Nashville hospital. Abercrombie was on a ventilator when Vrabel, a former linebacker, first came to visit and Abercrombie’s heart rate would spike when Vrabel talked football.
“He could squeeze my hand,” Vrable told Sports Illustrated. “It was amazing. I was talking about football and he would get excited.”
Vrabel suggested he come watch film at some point as they tried to figure out a linebacker to take. On Saturday, Abercrombie got to help Tennessee pick one of his friends.