While continuing his search for a team to sign him for the 2017 season, former Ravens linebacker Zach Orr said in a Friday radio interview that he retired in January without seeking a second opinion on his congenital neck/spine condition.
"It was probably a premature decision for me to retire so early just because I listened to one doctor," Orr said in an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio with hosts Alex Marvez and Mark Dominik. "After people found out I only went to one doctor, they were telling me, 'You've got to go get a second opinion. It was kind of eating at me. Obviously, I wanted to play ball. I love ball. I went ahead and did that.
"Every opinion after that I found out that I'm not as at great a risk. Really, there was only one doctor that looked me in the eye and told me I was at greater risk. The rest of the doctors told me I wasn't."
His statements seemed to contradict remarks he made during his January retirement press conference, where he suggested multiple specialists had warned him he would risk serious injury by continuing his career. He told SiriusXM he had consulted only with a Ravens team physician before ending his career.
The C1 vertebra at the top of Orr's spine isn't fully formed, an unusual condition discovered during a follow-up CT scan to examine a herniated disc in his neck, suffered near the end of last season. His agent, Rob Sheets, said he sought another opinion about two months ago after former Baylor quarterback Seth Russell recommended West Virginia-based spine specialist Sanford Emery.
Because the Ravens presumed him retired and did not tender him a contract offer, the 25-year-old Orr is now an unrestricted free agent. He visited with the Detroit Lions on Thursday and the Indianapolis Colts on Friday, and the New York Jets have also expressed interest, according to multiple reports.
