NC State’s Grayson McCall gives up football, says he can’t come back from latest head injury

By The Associated Press

FILE - North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall (2) during the pre game warm up of an NCAA college football game, Sept. 8, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Scott Kinser]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall announced his retirement from football on Wednesday night, less than three weeks after a vicious hit knocked him out of a game for the second time this season.

McCall was a sixth-year player who was a graduate transfer following a record-setting five years at Coastal Carolina, where he threw for more than 10,000 yards but also had concussion issues.

McCall was knocked out of the Sept. 14 game against Louisiana Tech and, in his first game back, left the field on a cart and was taken to a hospital for evaluation after a helmet-jarring hit in the first quarter against Wake Forest on Oct. 5.

“As you all know I have battled injuries my whole career, but this is one that I cannot come back from,” McCall wrote in an Instagram post. “I have done everything I can to continue, but this is where the good Lord has called me to serve in a different space. Brain specialists, my family, and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to hang the cleats up.”

McCall grew up in Indian Trail and was a three-star prospect coming out of Porter Ridge High School. He threw for 10,005 yards in 42 games at Coastal Carolina with 88 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions.

He was Sun Belt Conference player of the year in 2020, ‘21 and ’22 and threw a touchdown pass in 23 straight games over two seasons.

“From Porter Ridge to Conway and this past year in Raleigh, this journey has been better than any dream I could’ve ever envisioned,” McCall wrote. “This game has taken me places I never thought I would go, and has shaped my family and I in ways I never imagined. I have made so many memories that will stay with me forever, and I am so grateful for that.”

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