Ray Lewis is no longer competing on “Dancing with the Stars” and an old toe injury apparently is to blame.
The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker revealed on Monday night’s episode that he’d aggravated an old toe injury sustained during the 2010 NFL season while rehearsing for the hit reality competition program. The injury will require surgery to repair, leading to his withdrawal.
Lewis attempted to battle through the injury entering Week 3 of the competition, but the pain grew increasingly unbearable.
“I’d look at (partner Cheryl Burke) and say ‘Something’s off. I don’t know what but something’s off,'” Lewis told PEOPLE.com in a joint interview with his now-former partner after Monday’s episode. “We just kept pushing through.”
But things only continued to worsen as the competition progressed. Burke said she sometimes would see the 44-year-old Hall of Famer with his foot “in a garbage can full of ice” to help reduce the pain.
“She’d say ‘What’s your foot doing in a garbage pail of ice?'” Lewis recalled. “One day it was unbearable; it was shooting up my leg. I’ve lived with pain, but something’s wrong. I went and saw the doctor and had an MRI. I’m like ‘Okay, go fix this.'”
The MRI revealed Lewis had torn three tendons in his right foot, where the initial injury originated. Doctors said continuing to dance (which literally required Lewis to constantly be on his toes) on the injury would cause the tendons to rupture completely.
And just like that, Lewis’ chance at winning the mirror ball trophy came crashing down.
Lewis called this “one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life.” He thanked fans for their support in a series of Instagram posts in the hours following his withdrawal from the program, calling his participation an “absolutely incredible experience.”
“The one lesson that I learned from this experience is enjoy every moment,” a choked-up Lewis said Tuesday on Instagram.
