Twenty years ago this month football fans watched in horror as Detroit Lions linebacker Reggie Brown suffered a serious spinal cord injury during a game that left him paralyzed, unconscious, unable to breathe, and near death. Brown, who lives in Houston now with his wife and two sons, recently discussed that fateful December day, what happened in the hours, weeks and years that followed, and how he still enjoys watching the game that almost took his life.
The final quarter of the regular-season finale against the New York Jets set up to be a dream finish to the 1997 football season for the Detroit Lions.