Giants defensive back Logan Ryan was the one who tackled Dak Prescott on the play where Prescott’s 2020 season ended with a broken ankle.
The two shared a moment on the field this past Sunday, nearly one year to the day of the injury, after the Giants’ loss to the Cowboys, and it was a chance for them to bond over something other than football: books.
See, Ryan had sent Prescott a pair of books – “Relentless” by WHO and “WHAT” by WHO – as a gesture of trying to help Dak mentally during his recovery, and as he told Moose & Maggie Tuesday, they were tomes that helped him get through a similar injury of his own.
“When I was with Tennessee, I broke my fibula against the Giants when someone was thrown into my ankle and snapped it,” Ryan said. “I was done for the season, and for the first time in my career, I was missing the next game, and that was hard. They told me I had to sit around for a couple weeks and not do anything. It’s really hard to sit still, and I wanted to work on my mind.”
To do so, Ryan read “Relentless,” and it encouraged him, in his words, to “attack rehab” and come back as a better player.
“I had time to work on deficiencies and made myself mentally stronger attacking the adversity,” Ryan said. “The tackle with Dak was a routine tackle but caused a serious injury – I never want to do that and take something away, so I wanted to say I’ve been there before and been through it. We didn’t have much of a friendship or relationship, but he said it helped him get through it, and I think we can agree he came back a better player.”
Quite strong words considering Prescott is also a huge rival, but to Ryan, it was more about humanity – and about running towards, not away from, the best competition.
“It could’ve been an old lady on the street – if I knocked her over and broke her ankle, I’d be there for her. It’s more about humanity, and when someone is going through something tough, you want them to be able to get through it mentally,” Ryan said. “Physically, great players are trained to work and attack but mentally, as a competitor, you want to play against people at their best. That’s why you play at this level, and win lose or draw, you put your best foot out there. Dak is one of the best, and now we have to deal with that, but I’m not afraid of that.”
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