Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It's been a year ago this month that Neiron Ball collapsed into a coma and tried to fight his way out of the darkness. It's when his sister, Natalie Ball Myricks, dropped to her knees on the cold floor of a hospital room.

She knew her little brother needed help she was unable to provide.

"I prayed to God to spare my brother's life because he is the best of all us,'' Myricks wrote on her Facebook page last Thanksgiving, two months after Ball suffered a brain aneurysm. "I was beside myself and felt as if everyone was waiting on my brother to die. I was waiting for my brother to wake up."

A former linebacker for the Gators, Ball eventually opened his eyes. Still, progress moved at turtle speed. He could communicate "yes" and "no" by blinking, but he was unable to speak or move his arms and legs. Ball put up more of a fight than some of the doctors and nurses caring for him expected.

In the end, the struggle was too great to overcome. Neiron Ball died at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday morning in his hometown of Jackson, Ga. He turned 27 on Aug. 20 and leaves behind two young daughters, Grace and Nova.
 
Myricks used Facebook once more to share the news she never wanted to come true.

"The Ball family is forever grateful for the prayers, donations, and immense support of Neiron and his recovery,'' she wrote. "Neiron was a very special person and loving father, brother, and teammate. Neiron has transitioned to a place of peace."

Several of Ball's former UF teammates took to social media when news of his death began to circulate. Trent Brown, a close friend of Ball's who started his NFL career across San Francisco Bay with the 49ers as Ball played for the Oakland Raiders, tweeted: "Some tears you just don't be prepared for … Suffer no more."

You hang around a college football program long enough, and one day, you realize how many players and coaches come and go as if passing on a dark stretch of highway in the middle of the night. Some stand out and shine, others stand in the shadows.

In February 2010, former Gators head coach Urban Meyer signed his final recruiting class at UF. Florida inked 28 players that day and several of them, such as Trey Burton, Matt Elam, Quinton Dunbar, Dominique Easley and Sharrif Floyd, went on to play in the NFL.

Ball did, too.

But whenever Ball's name came up, chatter usually seemed to drift toward Neiron the person rather than the guy who wore No. 11 and played linebacker and special teams for the Gators.

His teammates called him Weezy, the one player in the locker room they knew always tried to look at the glass as being half-full instead of half-empty.

"Absolutely one of the best teammates and humans I was fortunate enough to be around,'' former Gators offensive lineman Xavier Nixon posted on Twitter.

If you spent any time around Ball, it was difficult not to feel welcome in his presence. He had a toothy smile and a hint of Georgia twang in his voice. Easy going off the field, he transformed into a lightning-quick attacker between the lines.
 
He was never a star for the Gators, but that didn't stop the Raiders from using a fifth-round pick on him in the 2015 draft. At UF's Pro Day a few months earlier, Ball put to rest any questions about a knee injury that ended his senior season and the congenital condition known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM) – a tangle of blood vessels that can prevent blood and oxygen flow in the body – that struck him down in the spring of 2011 and put his playing career in jeopardy.

"Neiron is freakishly athletic,'' Gators defensive lineman Dante Fowler Jr., who would be the third overall pick of the draft, said that afternoon at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. "Any coach would love to get him. I know he's going to be a surprise."

Fowler was right. Ball made the Raiders and broke into the starting lineup briefly until injuries derailed his career. He was back in Georgia and had recently started a job with the U.S. Postal Service when he suffered a brain aneurysm on Sept. 16, 2018.

When his family went public to reveal the severity of Ball's plight in late July and established a GoFundMe page through The Sports & Entertainment Group, the agency that represented Ball as a professional, more than 2,000 people donated more than $135,000. Former Gators teammate Jordan Reed contributed $10,000. Several others donated what they could.

It was a heartwarming show of support worthy of someone who leaves behind a legacy of giving.

In the summer of 2012 as Ball prepared to make his return to the field, I was fortunate to be able to sit down with him and tell the story of his comeback. His life story was already one of insurmountable odds. Ball's mother (Johanna) and father (Ronnie) died by the time he was 10.

Older siblings Natalie, Quay and Neland each had roles in shaping him as they navigated life without parents. Natalie and her husband Dary, now head coach at Jackson (Ga.) High where Neiron and Neland once starred, always stood in his corner and proved vital to his well-being in his final months.

In that same Thanksgiving post on Facebook 10 months ago, Natalie described the Neiron that so many others got to know and like in his brief time in this world.

"He is more than just a former football player – he's a wonderful selfless person who cares about everyone,'' Natalie said. "He is a giver and not a taker as he has been a blessing to many people."

Who was that person most only knew because he played football at UF?

Neiron Ball craved cheeseburgers and late-night stops at Chick-N-Run. In high school, he dreaded having to tell recruiters "no" when all they wanted to hear was "yes." He studied fashion trends and styles for his beloved dreadlocks.

And he loved Josephine White with all his being. He made sure I mentioned her in that story seven summers ago. She was his grandmother and primary caregiver in the years after both his parents died. In talking with Ball in the summer of 2012, he said he was preparing for a trip home to visit White before fall camp started.

Her health was failing and he wanted to make sure she knew how important she was to him. Josephine White died in June 2013.

"She always told me to never give up,'' Ball said.

He never did. Neiron Ball put up a fight until his final breath in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Sept. 10, 2019.