NFL Star Collapses During Training Camp

San Francisco 49ers fans were enjoying a sunny experience at the team’s training camp, watching a scrimmage drill, when one of its participants suddenly collapsed on the field.

Defensive lineman Tarron Jackson fell unconscious in the middle of an 11-on-11 face-off, lying facedown on the ground as medical personnel rushed in to revive the 6’2″, 254-pounder. He was later transferred by ambulance to nearby Stanford Hospital.

Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers head coach, addressed a frenzied media scrum afterward to say that Jackson had been listed in stable condition.

“Just letting you guys know he’s conscious inside. Communicating with us and can feel all his extremities. They’re taking him down to Stanford now just for further testing. Hopefully, we’ve cleared the real scary stuff, and we’ll get some good news on his neck,” said Shanahan.

He added that small signs by Jackson were encouraging enough that the team was able to carry on without him for the remainder of the drill.

“It’s always hard like that, especially when guys watch that,” Shanahan said. “We were close to him so we could hear him talking, see everything moving, so I just told the guys that, which eases them up a little bit for the biggest fears.

“I asked them if they were OK to continue to go, and they all yelled ‘yes’ and we finished the last period and a half.”

Speaking after Shanahan, ESPN’s Nick Wagoner shared more information about Jackson’s status.

“The final non-padded session for the Niners was around 80 minutes with about a 7-minute stoppage in the middle to tend to injured DE Tarron Jackson. Jackson was on the ground for about 6 minutes being tended to by trainers before he was placed on a stretcher and taken by cart to an ambulance that took him to Stanford hospital for further evaluations about 21 minutes after the play happened,” wrote Wagoner, per the Daily Caller.

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Drafted in 2021, Jackson was signed in the sixth round by the Carolina Panthers and transferred to the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the 49ers in January. He’s currently a member of the team’s practice squad.

Running back Christian McCaffrey told reporters that the incident is a reminder to “not take any day for granted” in the NFL.

“It’s never good, you’ve just got to pray for the best in situations like that,” McCaffrey said. “It’s definitely a reminder not to take any day for granted.

“You’re in a non-padded practice, and dudes get carted off … it’s a serious sport. Just pray for the best for him.”