In the summer of 2011, I was in between my freshman and sophomore year of playing football at Hardin-Simmons University. I wasn't expected to start as a sophomore, but I was expected to get a little playing time down the stretch as a pass rushing defensive lineman. That made what happened that summer hurt even worse.
I wasn't doing anything ridiculous, like trying to squat 700 pounds. I was jumping, on my last day at a summer camp called Pine Cove. During my last 30 minutes of being employed by the camp, I felt an earthquake rumble through my back, followed by a searing pain in my lumbar vertebrae.