Football is a demanding sport, with its fair share of physical tolls, and despite ongoing efforts to reduce injuries, they remain an unfortunate reality. JT Daniels, a former five-star recruit and quarterback who embarked on a college career marked by injuries and transfers, recently shared insights into his journey.
Daniels, who played for USC, Georgia, West Virginia, and Rice over six years, spoke with CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd about the challenges he faced and the advice he provides to players contemplating transfers.
“A lot of people have reached out to me about transferring and the process,” Daniels told Dodd. “I’m the guy.”
Injuries played a significant role in altering Daniels’ path, creating opportunities for other quarterbacks like Kedon Slovis at USC and Stetson Bennett at Georgia. His career came to an end after medically retiring during the past season, with lasting effects from concussions.
Dodd disclosed that Daniels suffered four concussions, including two severe ones. These injuries left him needing glasses and dealing with memory loss.
“I’m still not back to normal,” Daniels admitted. “I lost ‘binocular disparity.’ Your eyes are constantly communicating with each other. You see one picture with the left and one picture with the right. Naturally, your brain is combining them. When you see double vision, they’re not communicating with each other. It’s one picture, one picture, and they don’t merge.”
Daniels even faced double vision during the past season due to impaired vision. When asked about his memories of his freshman season at USC in 2018, Daniels acknowledged that those memories have faded.
“I get that one all the time. I really don’t [remember]. One, I’ve lost a decent amount [of my] long-term memory. That makes it a little tougher. In general, it all kinds of blends together,” Daniels said.
Despite the challenges and injuries, Daniels harbors no ill feelings toward the sport. Instead, he attributes his injury woes to genetics and has embarked on a coaching journey as a graduate assistant.