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O'Brien just confirmed that DT Evan Hailes' football career is over due to the blood clot complications. Will stay on as GA.
— Nate Bauer (@NateBauerBWI) May 1, 2012
The tweet from Blue White Illustrated's Nate Bauer really says it all: Evan Hailes' playing days have come to a premature end due to a lingering blood clot issue. He played just two games of collegiate football, registering two tackles, both in Penn State's win over Eastern Michigan.
That he even managed to suit up in the Blue and White in those games was an accomplishment: the blood clots first developed before the 2011 season, on drives from State College back to Virginia for his grandfather's funeral service. The clot that started on his leg traveled to his lung, and Hailes fought back from a life-threatening situation to at the least accomplish something that so few will ever be able to do.
But Hailes, unfortunately, was not out of the woods. The recurrence of the clots held him out of the second half of the 2011 season, the entirety of this past spring practice, and now, his promising sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. An All-American in high school and a top recruit two years ago, Hailes' Penn State story will now likely be one of potential unfulfilled.
He will stay on with the football program, though--as Bauer tweeted above, he'll take on a graduate-assistant type role, as he stays on scholarship and works towards his degree in kinesiology.
We at Black Shoe Diaries wish Evan the best in what is first and foremost a serious medical condition affecting a kid who just celebrated his 20th birthday. The time for worrying about how this effects Penn State's depth at defensive tackle will come later.