Things Seem to Always Work Out

I always dreamed of playing big-time college football. In August of 1986, I turned 14-years old and began my freshman year at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida. FHS was a football powerhouse with over 2,000 students and I couldn't wait to be a Wildcat. I was truly in the right place at the right time as I became just the 3rd player in school history to play varsity football as a freshman as I started at tight end. Scot Brantley was the first and he went on to be an All-SEC linebacker at Florida and then played for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Bert Yancey was the 2nd to do so and he played running back at Alabama. I was ready to roll!

By the time my sophomore year rolled around, I was getting recruitment letters from big-time programs. I will never forget my first letter ever in June 1987....from the University of Alabama. Soon after, one came from Michigan and I was enamored with how Coach Schembechler signed it in just big letters that said BO at the bottom. That summer and fall, the letters came in by the dozens. Florida State, Nebraska, Stanford, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Texas, Penn State, Duke, Navy, North Carolina, Miami, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and more.

My sophomore football season was probably my favorite year as a kid. We had an awesome team that won another district title and battled into the state playoffs before losing 21-15 to Jacksonville Raines. I had become a 2-way starter at tight end and inside linebacker. Believe it or not, I also returned punts because even though we had so many guys on the team that were much faster than I, they couldn't catch them!

Going into my junior year, I really caught the bug bad that I was going to be playing in front of 80,000 fans on Saturdays once I left high school. 1988 was another good season. We lost in the district championship but won many games and lots of college coaches came through town. I made the All Big Sun Team. Invites started pouring in for football camps that summer. The University of Florida sent my mama flowers on Mother's Day. Life was great!

As my senior year began in 1989, there was so much excitement. We were loaded and ready for another district title run. I was named one of the top 50 high school football players in the state by several newspapers. Coaches were calling all of the time, stopping by school, watching practices, etc. I took official visits to Florida State and the University of Florida that September. I also took unofficial visits to both places for additional games. I was planning to visit Stanford, Alabama, and Michigan after the season ended.

Then, the adversity came; my initial shoulder injury. It was a "mild" separation but it hurt real bad. I played through the pain and finished that game and prepared for the next week at Jacksonville Wolfson. My team needed me and I wasn't going to not play so I tried to tough it out. Late in the game, down by a touchdown, I fielded a punt and was immediately buried by several defenders that forced me to land directly on my right shoulder...it exploded...I heard it, I felt the intense heat running down my arm....it was bad. I finished the last few minutes of the game playing with one arm for the most part. We were unable to rally and lost.

The next week, we played what was essentially the district championship game vs. Gainesville Bucholz. My shoulder was wrapped. I had taken some cortisone. We did all we could do. I was unable to move it very well. I was a non-factor in the game and we lost. It was a long and painful night.

I then sat out the only game I ever missed in high school the following week when Gainesville High came to town. I was in tears on the sidelines knowing I couldn't play and help my teammates. It was the longest 2.5 hours of my life up to that point.

The next week was our last game since we didn't qualify for the playoffs. It was against our bitter, cross-town rival, Vanguard, and I played tight end. I couldn't play linebacker because I couldn't lift my right arm. I did catch a couple of punts, somehow. I made some blocks but had no receptions. We beat those suckers 37-24 and it was a great way to end a painful and disappointing season.

With the season over, I went in to get my shoulder properly checked out and learned that it was decimated. I had to have reconstructive surgery and lost almost all of my strength in it. As the college coaches began to hear of this, the phone didn't ring as often. I was still invited to the Florida State/Florida game that year in Gainesville but I didn't get all of the attention from the coaches I used to get before the injury. December came and went and no other official visits were offered. FSU "liked" me as a player but now needed to "wait and see." Florida "thought" I could help them at tight end but was waiting on the new coaching staff (Steve Spurrier) to get to town. Over the next four years, I went on to see Billie Glenn from Daytona Seabreeze, who we played and beat and I went head to head with, go to FSU and start for three years and win a national title. I saw Vanguard's Shawn Nunn go to Florida and start for three years as well. I had played both of those guys several times and always beat them as a team and in one-on-one match-ups. Oh well.

My dreams of playing big-time college football were gone. I then began to hear from Eastern Kentucky, Troy State, Georgia Southern, Citadel, Western Carolina, and others but none of those panned out due to concerns over my shoulder.

Right before signing day, I took a visit to the University of Central Florida in Orlando. They said I could walk-on if I wanted to but they didn't have any scholarship money for me. I was mad. I was sad. I was upset. I couldn't believe this was happening.

The University of Richmond called and said they would call me back on signing day if they had an offer. The phone never rang.

That February, I ended up signing a small scholarship offer from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I wasn't going to play in front of 80,000 fans. Heck, I wasn't going to play in front of 10,000 fans like we had at my high school games. I was going to play in front of 2,000 fans in small towns in the midwest against teams nobody has ever heard of.

By the time I got to Benedictine in the fall of 1990, I was beat up and washed up for the most part. I had a good career there...I started a few games at linebacker, came in on various situational packages, and started at tight end my senior year before a major ankle injury cut it short for me in the 4th game of the year. My heart wasn't into it like it had been in high school. I made some great friends, learned some real tough "life lessons," and met my wife at BC.

I learned at Benedictine that when your heart isn't into something 110%, you typically have regrets and aren't as successful as you wanted to be. You're either "all in" or out, right? I wasn't "all in" and I can't take that back now.

I have no regrets, however. Going through the shoulder and ankle injuries, dealing with disappointment, etc. made me a better person. Developing lifelong relationships at Benedictine with guys like Bill Utz, Ken McGibney, and others made a lasting impression. Meeting my wife there was a true blessing. Earning my BA in elementary education and my MA in educational leadership there opened doors for me.

The fact I wasn't the key contributor I could have been on the BC football team has driven me to this day to work hard and to never put myself in the position to be looked at as "average." That motivation drives me every day as a school leader.

The most valuable things we learn don't often come from books...they come from tough, real-life experiences.

If I hadn't gone to BC, I wouldn't have met Liesl Dean from Omaha, Nebraska. I wouldn't have the four children I'm lucky enough to have that I love, admire, and respect with all of my heart. I wouldn't be in public education in Nebraska.

You see, things seem to always work out.