Xavier McKinney has revealed he nearly lost three of his fingers and could have put his NFL career at risk after a horrific motorbike crash in November.
The talented safety spent the New York Giants' bye week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - a popular destination for NFL players during their weeks off - and rented an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) with a group of friends. McKinney was involved in a crash while on the ATV, and broke three of his fingers in a horrifying injury, which he shared the X-ray images on his social media pages.
The talented first-round draft pick from Alabama has was out of action for two months, before returning to the team on New Years Day and being able to play once again, after he had come so close to thinking his career could be over.
Speaking to the New York Post, McKinney said he posted the images: "First of all, to show how bad the injury was. I don’t think people understood the magnitude of what it was. They didn’t really understand how broken that it really was. I think a lot of people didn’t understand that I could have really lost three fingers. I was almost close to losing three of my fingers.
"When we were doing surgery, actually the doc told me afterwards, he was like he wasn’t sure how he was even gonna be able to get all the pieces back together ’cause there was so many. My fingers were shattered."
McKinney, a defensive captain for the Giants, had missed seven games in the season but will now have a huge role to play in their divisional round meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night.
Whilst being relieved that he's able to resume his NFL career, he now has a new perspective, knowing how quickly the game, and life, could be taken away.
He added: "That’s why I say the time is so valuable, everything is precious,” McKinney said. “I try to take nothing for granted. It was a life-changing experience for me.
"It was traumatizing for me. I never saw anything like that with my own eyes. It was different. It made me change my perspective on a lot of things."
