“In my medical opinion, you need to stop playing football immediately.”
These words brought inside linebacker Zachary Orr’s world crashing down in 2017. After a breakout season in his third year with the Baltimore Ravens that earned him second-team All-Pro honors, Orr’s playing career was over just like that. From fighting to make the team as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas in 2014, spending multiple years primarily on special teams, to finally getting his shot and flourishing as a starter in 2016, it was all over in the blink of an eye.
That was not the end of Orr’s story; it was just the beginning.
If there is one thing that Baltimore does better than perhaps any other team in the NFL, it is uncovering hidden gems through undrafted free agency, particularly in the linebacker position. Orr was the latest example in 2014, though it would not be until 2016 that he would show the world what he was capable of as a starting linebacker in the NFL.
Orr slotted in at the weakside linebacker position next to 2014 first-round pick and Pro Bowler C.J. Mosley. Orr did not take long to take off in his new role. In Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Orr caught a game-sealing interception. He finished the season as the team leader in total tackles with 132 to go with three interceptions, five passes defended, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries, landing him a spot as a second-team All-Pro for his first year as a starter. To say the future was bright for Orr was an understatement.
Orr’s incredible season was cut a game short when he was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury following the team’s Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. No big deal, right? Orr would visit with team doctors and devise an off-season plan to prepare for the start of the next season. Except that is not what happened. Instead, the trajectory of Orr’s career was changed forever.
When it was announced that Orr would be holding a press conference with the media on January 20, 2017, rumors were swirling that the standout undrafted playmaker had received a well-deserved contract extension from the Ravens ahead of becoming a restricted free agent that offseason. To the surprise of everyone, Orr instead announced his retirement at 24.
When visiting with team doctors about the herniated disc he had suffered against the Steelers, Orr learned that he had a rare congenital spine condition.
“My C-1 vertebrae — the one at the top of my neck, just below my skull — is not completely developed,” Orr wrote in an article for The Players’ Tribune. “It’s about 80% as big as it should be, and it’s also kind of split at each end, making it weaker and more prone to cracking, breaking or even shattering. And this is a problem because the C-1 helps control the movements of your head and neck. It also plays a big role in helping you breathe.”
Orr was told that if he took one hit the wrong way, his C-1 could explode and that he could die on the spot.
“I don’t want my life to end on a football field,” Orr wrote.
In the parking lot, just moments after learning his playing career was over, Orr was bombarded with texts congratulating him on being an All-Pro and how this was “just the beginning.”
“It took everything I had to not break down and cry,” Orr wrote. “As the days passed, it started to feel like my spinal condition was this thing that was hanging over me … this secret that I was keeping from the world. And after about two weeks, I couldn’t stand it anymore and I decided to announce my retirement to the world. I kind of wanted to do it just so people would stop wishing me luck for a 2017 season that was never going to happen for me.”
And with that, Orr announced his retirement in a press conference. That was the end of his playing career.
Or so he thought.
On June 28, 2017, just five months after announcing his retirement to the world, Orr announced on Good Morning Football that he would be coming out of retirement to continue his NFL career after receiving more opinions outside of Baltimore’s doctors about his condition.
Orr’s promising career might not have been over after all.
“I wanted to be a Raven,” Orr wrote. “I said as much to [general manager] Ozzie [Newsome] when I called and told him that I wanted to come back. And he said that he wanted me to be a Raven, too.”
The biggest hurdle remaining between Orr and continuing his career with the team he loved was passing a physical.
“So the Ravens flew me up to Baltimore for a workout and a physical,” Orr wrote. “But at the end of the day, their doctors stood by their initial decision and said they couldn’t clear me to play — not with my spinal condition. They said it was too big a risk, both for them and for me. That upset me a little bit because I wanted so badly to be a Raven again, but I understood. And once that process was complete and I knew I wasn’t going to be returning to Baltimore, I decided to announce that I was coming out of retirement. I wanted to see if a team would clear me to play. And if one did, I was going to play.”
Except no team would clear Orr.
“I visited five more teams and I interviewed with another 11 over the phone,” Orr wrote. “Some teams looked at my C-1 and said that it was too big a risk and wouldn’t clear me. Others looked at my C-1 and said that it wasn’t a big concern, but that they were concerned about my herniated disc. I could have spinal fusion surgery to fix the herniated disc, but fused vertebrae would put increased pressure on my C-1, which was already weak. So they wouldn’t clear me, either. And a couple of teams noticed something else when they looked at my MRI and CT scans. They noticed little white spots on my spinal cord, which is a sign of damage to the cord as a result of my herniated disc. That was something else that could put me at an increased risk for a spinal cord injury. So if a team wasn’t bothered by the C-1, they were bothered by the herniated disc. Or the spots. It was always something. Six teams in person, 11 more over the phone — that’s 17 teams, more than half the league — and I couldn’t get one to give me the green light. Because at the end of the day, my spine was too jacked up. And no team wants to be the one that has a player die on the field.“
Once again, Orr had to face the harsh reality of his situation. On August 18, 2017, Orr officially announced his retirement for the second time that year.
“We have a saying in Baltimore: Once a Raven, always a Raven,” Orr wrote. “Well, I wanted to end my career as a Raven. And even though it didn’t happen the way I envisioned, I’ve done that. I wish it didn’t have to end like this. I wish it didn’t have to end after I had just had the best season of my life. I mean, I was an undrafted free agent out of North Texas who came in and in his third season, led the Ravens’ defense — the Ravens’ defense — in tackles. That in itself was a dream come true. But it’s just bad timing. Sometimes, that’s how life goes. I believe everything happens for a reason, and I’m excited for the next chapter of my life, whatever that may bring. I’m just thankful that the Ravens gave me the opportunity to show people the kind of player I could be before it was all over.”
This is where the next stage of Orr’s story begins. On August 30, 2017, Orr started his career in coaching, joining the Ravens as a defensive analyst. The organization that gave him a shot as an undrafted free agent in 2014 was now giving Orr his first crack at coaching in the NFL just three years later and 12 days after announcing his retirement for the second time.
Orr spent the next three seasons as a defensive analyst for Baltimore before leaving in 2021 to join first-year head coach Urban Meyer with the Jaguars as the outside linebackers coach. In 2022, Orr returned to the Ravens as the team’s inside linebackers coach under new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, with whom Orr had built a strong relationship in the two’s previous stint in Baltimore together.
Macdonald flourished as defensive coordinator, quickly leading to his name emerging as a potential head coach candidate in his second season. Meanwhile, Orr coached the best inside linebacker duo in the NFL, with Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen earning first and second-team All-Pro honors, respectively.
The Ravens finished 2023 with one of the best defenses in franchise history. Macdonald was hired as the next head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and highly-regarded defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. Baltimore needed a new defensive coordinator to fill Macdonald’s massive shoes.
Just as they had given Orr a shot as an undrafted rookie in 2014 and again as a first-time coach in 2017, the Ravens decided to take another chance on Orr, this time in the esteemed defensive coordinator role.
“Zach is a homegrown Raven in every way,” coach John Harbaugh said. “His energy, intelligence, work ethic and strong communication skills have been on display since the day he joined our organization as a player in 2014. From making our team as an undrafted rookie, to becoming an All-Pro linebacker, then later transitioning to an assistant coach who helped mentor multiple Pro Bowl defenders, Zach has excelled at every level of his football journey.”
“The Ravens certainly know what they are getting from a personality, work ethic and energy standpoint.” wrote The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “Orr has developed a strong rapport with the Ravens players, including Smith, the outspoken leader of the team’s defense. Orr’s energy and charisma are evident both on the sideline, where he’s regularly exhorting and celebrating with the players, and on the practice field, where he sprints from drill to drill. He’s known as an energetic leader and motivator who can reach and relate to players, and who has put in the time to learn what it takes to be an effective coach.”
“I love Zach Orr,” Macdonald said while speaking on 105.7 The Fan’s “Inside Access”. “He is going to knock it out of the park. He is a future head coach in this league, so enjoy him while you have him. But the guys are going to play with their hair on fire and they’re going to play together, I know that. Zach understands what it looks like in Baltimore, and he connects with the players better than anyone I’ve ever been around. Zach’s going to do a tremendous job.”
Now, just seven years after learning he would never play another down of professional football, Orr’s determination, hard work, and intelligence skyrocketed him up the ladder to one of the most prestigious coordinating roles the NFL offers.
Learning that his playing career was over just as it took off was not the end of Orr’s NFL story; it was merely the beginning of something more.
