Tyrone Tracy Jokes Giants Players Call Him 'Paul Pierce' After Injury Scare at Camp

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. had to be carted off the field last week with a non-contact injury, though it ultimately was nothing more than a minor ankle injury.

On Tuesday, he told reporters that his teammates have jokingly been calling him Paul Pierce:

Pierce famously left Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals on a wheelchair, only to return about a minute later, jogging back from the locker room. He once admitted that he just had to go the bathroom, confirming longstanding Internet rumors, though later said he sprained his MCL.

"I sprained my MCL, and the doctor said, 'No, no, no, don't put no weight on it,'" he said during a 2023 episode of Showtime Basketball. "I'm like, alright, I'm going to stand up. He's like, don't put no weight on it. Then they carried me. I didn't ask for that. I didn't say go get the wheelchair."

Regardless of the true story, the image of Pierce being taken off on a wheelchair, only to return moments later seemingly fine, has become something of a meme over the years.

It's only funny, of course, because Tracy's injury wasn't serious and he was able to return to practice on Tuesday after being carted off the field last week and having his leg put in an air cast. That caused plenty of concern among his teammates.

"Oh man, very difficult," veteran running Devin Singletary told reporters at the time. "We put a lot into this. You can't really prevent injuries in this game. It's a 100 percent injury rate, but you always hate to see one of your brothers go down. We don't know exactly what's going on, but we hate to see him go down."

Like Pierce, however, it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked.