Lions’ Brown May Not Walk Again

Detroit Lion linebacker Reggie Brown suffered permanent damage to his spinal cord when he was hit in the head during Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, Lion team physician David Collon said Tuesday.

Brown can breathe on his own and has regained limited movement in all four extremities, but Collon said it is unknown whether Brown will walk again.

Brown, 23, remains in stable condition at Detroit Henry Ford Hospital and is extremely weak. As he recovers from surgery to fuse his first and second cervical vertebrae, the next few days will be critical in determining whether he will regain the ability to walk.

Collon said Monday’s operation--which was intended to provide stability to the neck and to prevent additional trauma to the spinal cord--”went well” but that Brown will not be able to move his head normally for the rest of his life. He will wear a halo apparatus to support his head and neck for at least three months.

Though Brown is expected to enter a care facility in two weeks to begin rehabilitation, his long-term prognosis may not be known for a year. He is receiving medication to reduce swelling in his spinal cavity, and he is being monitored for blood clots and infection.

“He seems very tired; he’s been through quite a bit,” Russ Nockels, one of the neurosurgeons who operated on Brown, said during a news conference at the hospital. “But he wants to work hard. Overall, he’s really taking this quite well.”

Collon said Monday that Brown is “starting from a very strong position. He’s strong, he’s young, and he’s healthy.” Though Brown’s condition Tuesday was not as promising as hoped, Nockels said, “The fact that he doesn’t make great strides is not necessarily a bad thing, either.”

Lion Coach Bobby Ross, executive vice president Chuck Schmidt and several players visited Brown on Tuesday. Wide receiver Herman Moore, who toted a video camera Monday at the Silverdome, showed Brown a video of get-well messages from the team. Collon said Brown was “in good spirits.”

Safety Mark Carrier, whose father was paralyzed in an auto accident, said: “We all have to be positive. You never know how someone is going to react to something like this, and we don’t know how Reggie is going to react. It’s never easy.”

When Brown lay motionless after making a tackle against the Jets in the fourth quarter Sunday, he became the second Lion player this decade to suffer damage to his spinal cord. In 1991, offensive lineman Mike Utley fell on his head in a game at the Silverdome against the Rams, fracturing vertebrae. He remains paralyzed from the chest down.

Utley said Tuesday he refused to let the loss of his playing career lead to the loss of his “aggressive spirit” and that Brown should do the same. An avid adventurer, Utley remains active and has established the Mike Utley Foundation for spinal injury victims. He sent a letter to Brown, which said, “Dear Reggie: Don’t give up. Don’t ever quit.”

The Lions will wear Brown’s No. 59 on their jerseys or wristbands in Sunday’s wild-card playoff game against the Buccaneers at Tampa, Fla.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.