An athlete shot while on break from Chargers training camp is documenting his recovery online.
Curtis "Boonah" Brinkley, 23, was shot while sitting inside his car at a suburban intersection in Cheltenham, Pa. on July 10. A gunman came up to Brinkley's car on foot and fired multiple times before running to a nearby car and fleeing the scene, police said.
The former Syracuse University all-star running back was signed as a free agent this year by the Chargers and was home for a short break during training camp when the shooting happened.
The details surrounding the shooting appeared to point to a case of mistaken identity. Curtis' uncle told KOGO that the football player had received a call from his sister for a ride. He thinks that the sister's fiancé spotted the two and shot Curtis out of jealousy, not realizing his true identity.
"I'm just happy to be alive," Brinkley said after his release from the hospital in July. "Now my focus is to get healthy and get back to being a productive football player."
On July 24, the Chargers placed Brinkley on "reserve-non-football injury" list for the 2009 season with GM A. J. Smith saying, "We're going to monitor this situation and see what unfolds in the future regarding Curtis."
Brinkley's camp sent out a mass email Friday to spread the word that Brinkley is using social media to document his recovery from a recent surgery. This includes one clip on YouTube, a Facebook account set on private and a Twitter account that has been used to distribute the press release saying that Brinkley is using social media to document his recovery.
SportsWrap
The top sports headlines of the day
Brinkley was a standout running back at Syracuse and a star at West Catholic where he rushed for 7,429 yards and 85 touchdowns, breaking the Philadelphia prep school record previously held by NFL running back Kevin Jones, according to Philly.com. In his senior year at West Catholic he had a record-setting 2,813 yards.
