Good news from Jacksonville as a jury has convicted Tyrone Hartsfield of first-degree murder for the shooting of Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier.

Collier was paralyzed and lost his left leg after he was shot six times in a car outside a Jacksonville apartment building.

Hartsfield, 33, faces up to life in prison.

He was not happy with the trial and felt the location in the hometown of the Jaguars football team worked to his disadvantage.

Clearly, he hasn’t been watching the Jaguars this season. Their performance probably to his advantage.

The two men had an incident in April 2008, which resulted in Collier knocking out Hartsfield in a fight. Prosecutors felt that he had approached Collier to seek revenge.

It’s a tragedy that his career was ended at the hands of senseless violence, but luckily Collier is doing well and was present in the court room for the verdict.

Sad news on the condition of Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier.

Dr. Andy Kerwin, a surgeon for the University of Florida at
Shands Jacksonville hospital, said Collier, who was shot 14 times, is paralyzed
below the waist and had his left leg amputated.

Of the 14 bullets, Collier had wounds to his back, left groin, left leg, right buttock and a bullet severed his spinal cord.

Doctors have told Collier that he will never walk again.

The Jaguars have been kept in the dark about Collier’s situation until his family and Richard understood what happened to him exactly.

Tragic situation and hopefully a lesson to other NFL players that nothing is guaranteed in life.

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot several times early Tuesday morning and sustained life-threatening injuries. Read the rest of this entry »