USC freshman TE done with football after neck, spinal issue

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp announced Tuesday that freshman tight end Robert Tucker will have to give up football because of neck issues.

Tucker signed with the Gamecocks in 2016 out of BEST Academy in Atlanta.

“He needs to shut down football in his life right now,” Muschamp said. “He has had a couple issues, a hereditary issue with his neck when he came in, had some numbness in camp a couple times, some reoccurring issues with his neck.”

Tucker will remain at USC to get his education and have a to-be-determined role with the football team or athletics department.

“He had a promising career as football player,” Muschamp said. “He is a great person and a great young man. We’re going to take care of Robert. Just really sad for him, as good a young man as we’ve got in our program. I’m certainly glad that our medical staff was able to catch this before it became more of an issue.”

Tucker was one of two tight ends in this class that included Evan Hinson from Deltona, Fla. Kiel Pollard of Moultrie, Ga., was signed as a receiver and then moved to tight end.

Tucker’s coach at BEST, Joshua Moore, weighed in on the news via Twitter:

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 1:07 PM with the headline "USC freshman TE done with football after neck, spinal issue."