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Two of the more talked-about players in SMU’s spring workouts are defensive ends Taylor Thompson and Margus Hunt. Each triggers the minds of coaches, teammates and fans alike because of the combination of size, wingspan, strength and speed that make quarterbacks queasy and make defensive coaches drool.

But there’s a third defensive end at practice each morning with top-tier size and speed – one who will never play for SMU again.

Adrian Dizer should be getting ready for his final season at SMU as a fifth-year senior defensive end. At 6-5, 245 (on the 2008 roster) and blessed with speed and athleticism that also make him a gifted basketball player, Dizer has all of the “measurables” that every coach covets in a defensive end. A rail-thin prospect when he arrived from Clarkesville High School in East Texas, Dizer built himself into a strong, long-armed specimen some coaches believed had a chance at an NFL future, despite having spent much of his college career as a backup.

That chance came to an end Oct. 25 last year in Annapolis, Md., when Dizer tackled Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs.

“I’m (four inches) taller than he is, and when I tackled him, he hit me in the chest,” Dizer said. “I flipped over him and hit the top of my head on the turf.

Adrian Dizer is helping out at spring workouts this year, serving as "an extra set of eyes" for defensive line coach Bert Hill (photo by Travis Johnston).

“I felt a really sharp pain, but at first, I thought it was just nerve damage. Then, on the flight home, I just felt so terrible – I could barely hold my head up. I came in for treatment and told (the SMU trainers), ‘you’ve got to do something.’”

After the swelling in Dizer’s neck went down, tests revealed a broken vertebrae at the base of his neck.

“I was one of the lucky ones – I should have been paralyzed,” Dizer said. “One of the doctors told me, ‘Son, you have a serious injury. You need to have surgery, and more than likely, you’re not going to be able to play football ever again.’”

With those words, Dizer’s life changed forever.

“At first, it was frightening,” he said. “I started crying. I asked myself, ‘how can this happen to me?’ I had dreams of playing in the NFL. I needed to gain more weight and work on my game more, but that was my dream. That dream was over.”

Dizer said he considered a number of factors when deciding whether to try to return to the field, such as his ability to lead a healthy life in the future and the fact that he was close to getting his degree (he expects to graduate in December with a major in Markets and Culture, with a minor in psychology).

More than anything, though, he thought about his son, A’Zaydrian.

“I pictured him coming up to me and I can’t pick him up, I can’t run and play with him,” Dizer said. “That’s not the way to live my life. The doctors telling me should be paralyzed – that scared the living (deleted) out of me, but it also showed that God really does work miracles. I went to praying about it, and I asked God to give me a sign about what I needed to do. I went through a stage of depression, because I’ve played football all my life, and last year, I wanted to come back, to prove to the coaches that I could be their No. 1 guy.

“But I thought about A’Zaydrian a lot, too. When you think about it, in the trenches, there’s constant contact – it’s a pounding. He’s the reason I’m here now, and I wasn’t going to do anything that took away from my relationship with my son.”

Now Dizer is the most physically-imposing spectator at the Ponies’ spring workouts. Being there as an observer, without taking part in drills, is difficult.

“It’s hard to watch, when I want to be participating,” Dizer said. “When I see my classmates – guys like Chris Parham – doing so good out there, I want to be out there with them, to see if I can do that well, too.”

Dizer said the chance to live a healthy life and play with his young son weighed heavily in his decision to end his playing career (photo by Travis Johnston).

Dizer said that SMU defensive line coach Bert Hill has welcomed him at practice, and Dizer now helps Hill with the defensive linemen.

“I guess I’m sort of like Coach Hill’s assistant – I’m an extra set of eyes out there for him,” Dizer said. “I try to be helpful to him, because I’ve learned so much from him, playing for him last year, and now the way I’m working with him this spring. Just being around the football team, interacting with some of my classmates I came here with … It’s something I just love.

“Of course I wish it hadn’t happened, but I believe it’s going to be better for me down the road. It’s one of the trials we all go through. Some of the players have been clowning me a little, calling me ‘Coach,’ because I still see myself as a player. It’s cool, though, that they give me a hard time. Everyone has been really supportive of me being out there. I told them I want to be out there, to help out in any way I can, and they’re letting me do that.

“I mean, even thought I can’t play, I’m still a Mustang.”