“I strongly believe in you’re told from the beginning of football to keep your head up, and my fault, I did not keep my head up.”
In 1983, Ray Bingham, my father, signed with the University of South Carolina as a lineman on the football team. He was one of top recruits in South Carolina and every major university wanted him. The schools ranged from Georgia, Harvard, Notre Dame, UCLA, to Auburn. The State newspaper named him "The best lineman in the state."
My father says that he didn't know that he was good enough to be looked at to play college football.
"Growing up as a kid you worked, you went to school, you did chores, or you had a ball in your hand and that was basically my upbringing: school, chores, ball" he said.
As a freshman he was redshirted, but coach Joe Morrison didn't wait a second to play him the next year.
This was 1984, the year of the Black Magic team for South Carolina. In the first game of the season against The Citadel, my dad was sent out on punt coverage. The receiver caught the ball and ran even though my dad was right in front of him.
"Now's your opportunity to make that big hit" he thought to himself.
With not much time to gain control, my dad tucked his head down to tackle the runner, forcing his chin into his stomach. He pushed himself off the ground, walked off the field, and knew something was wrong. When he went back to the locker room, the doctor gave him an X-ray, showing him that his neck was broken.
He was immediately strapped onto a stretcher and sent to Baptist Medical Center where they informed him he had broken his C-5 and C-6 bones in his spine. He had to wear a halo for six weeks, but the doctors told him that his neck had not properly healed and he needed surgery. The doctors used some of his hip bone to fuse C-5 and C-6 bones back together and then put him in a neck brace for another eight weeks.
He said, "The doctors told me my neck would be stronger than it was, but I would never play football again."
My dad kept his scholarship at the University of South Carolina. He stayed on the football team helping out with coaching and athletic training. After he graduated in 1988, he never stopped being a Gamecock and now attends every home football game.
