IT'S APRIL 14, 2006, Good Friday in Columbus, Ohio. A rite of spring unspools at Ohio State, a spirited inner-squad scrimmage at cavernous Ohio Stadium.
Kurt Coleman, who will start at safety for the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, is just 17 years old at the time, an early high school graduate hoping to get a jump on impressing the Buckeyes coaches. Tyson Gentry, 20, is a redshirt freshman walk-on, a punter turned scout team wide receiver.
The two Ohio natives had never formally met before the collision that would paralyze Gentry permanently below the waist, changing both of their lives forever.