When football fans are debating what the greatest and most heroic moments in college football history are, the conversation will inevitably turn toward those who have pushed through injuries and kept playing.
These moments live on in replays and promotional videos, but the imagery isn’t necessary for the fans who were lucky enough to watch these moments live.
Who could forget the look of despair on the face of Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich in a 2002 game at Akron? After breaking his left tibia, teammates and offensive linemen Steve Sciullo and Steve Perretta carried Leftwich down the field for the start of the next play.
Looking for a more recent example? How about 11 days ago when Greg Nosal, the starting left guard for Virginia Tech, continued to play without the tip of his pinkie? After seeing blood and bone under his glove, he reportedly told the trainers to put the pinkie on ice and went back into the game.
These moments aren’t limited to football as former athletes Kerri Strug, Kirk Gibson and Willis Reed have all become legends for their high pain tolerances in gymnastics, baseball and basketball, respectively. But there’s something special about an unpaid college athlete gritting his teeth and getting the job done.
Most college football programs have at least a few players who have had to put their thresholds for pain on display at some point in their careers.
The Buckeyes are no exception.
“In my senior year of high school, I blew out my knee. The only thing that was keeping it on was my PCL,” said Zach Boren, starting fullback for OSU. “They said both meniscuses were torn on both sides of my knee, the MCL was completely torn off the bone, and then my ACL was completely torn.”
One would think a knee injury as gruesome and painful as Boren’s would keep him off the field — but that wasn’t the case.
“I had my trainer, who wasn’t the smartest person at the time, but she took six rolls of white athletic tape and taped my whole knee up,” Boren said. “They sent me out to play again because I told them I wanted to play. I lasted probably three-fourths of the third quarter and I just couldn’t do it, I was in so much pain.”
Playing for almost an entire quarter on a shredded knee was excruciatingly painful for Boren, yet some athletes will play through or hide an injury for a year or more if necessary.
“The worst injury I’ve ever played through was probably when I ripped my shoulder, my labrum in my shoulder,” said Mike Adams, starting offensive lineman for the Buckeyes. “It’s just one of those things I played through for the year. And after a while it was just like, everything you do, you feel it. Sometimes I couldn’t even feel my arm.”
Shoulder injuries and torn ligaments aren’t the only maladies some Buckeyes choose to play through. Illnesses can also sideline a player.
One of the most well-known examples of an athlete battling through an illness occurred in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when Michael Jordan was bitten hard by the flu bug. Fighting dehydration and exhaustion, Jordan managed to rack up 38 points and seven rebounds, securing the Bulls’ victory and a 3-2 series lead.
OSU starting safety Jermale Hines knows how that feels.
“I actually had flu-like symptoms at the Rose Bowl in January,” Hines said. “I was very sick, very weak. I couldn’t get off of blocks, things like that.”
If there’s anything more impressive than a college athlete fighting through injury or illness, it’s perhaps a high school athlete doing the same thing.
“I know my younger brother (Jacoby) had swine flu last year, and he played in two games with swine flu,” Boren said. “He didn’t go to school all week unless it was Friday because you had to go to school on Friday to be able to play. He’d go to school on Friday, play that night, and then after the game, he wouldn’t even be able to walk.”
Boren’s parents were worried that their son might need medical assistance every Friday night while he was ill.
“We didn’t know he had (swine flu), but we knew he was sick,” said Hope Boren, Zach and Jacoby’s mother. “We thought he was getting better when we let him play that first Friday, and then on Saturday he was sick as a dog. His temperature went up to 104 degrees, and he was walking around on crutches.”
Despite being in pain and being sicker than he’d been before, Jacoby’s brothers refused to show him sympathy.
“He was walking around on crutches for two days because his joints hurt so bad, and his brothers (Justin and Zach) were calling him a sissy through all of it,” Hope said.
Although he has never suffered from a head injury or concussion, Boren explained what it feels like to be knocked loopy after a hard-hitting play.
“There are times when you hit someone and you can’t see straight for a minute,” Boren said. “You know how in the cartoons, they see stars? Well, you really do see stars.”
