The referee drops his hands and blows the whistle as it carries through the wind 20 yards and begins to ring in my ear. The quarterback of the opposing team (Glenbrook South) hikes the ball and drops back 3 steps and is dancing in the pocket. Everything is going 1000mph in my head as I'm covering my reciever. The ball goes up… INTERCEPTION! Our safety Rylie Dolan takes off running down our sideline. As I attempted to make a block, I was shoved in the back and one hard plant later, I heard a snap as if a stick was broken and my life flashed in front of my eyes. The half second it took for me to fall to the ground and realize my leg and ankle just broke felt like a hour. The excruciating pain was almost unbearable. Once on the ground I was in shock I couldn’t believe what had just happened, I picked up my leg to make sure it was alright and from my mid calf down it was just hanging there as if it was flapping in the air.

The recovery has been a marathon the past 7 months and I’m still not 100% healthy. Now, a life changing decision I've been dreading, has finally approached me, “ Am I going to continue to play football my senior year or hang up the cleats?”  The previous 7 months had been very dark for me. As a two sport athlete, being active participating, in sports, and working out was a huge necessity and by being prevented to do these things made me feel as if a part of me died. As you can assume, I’m very anxious to get back in the swing of things and be with all my brothers back on the field, but my conscious continues to ask me daily if it’s really worth jeopardizing my ability to be mobile for one season.

Growing up, football has been a second religion in my family. During the NFL season it was abnormal to go to a family member's house and not see it on the TV. Every sunday until I was about 13, my family would go to mass early in the morning, have a nice breakfast, and then go straight to my grandparents house to turn on the games. To my grandfather football wasn’t just a game, it was a lifestyle. During my grandpas high school years he was expecting to get drafted to go to war, but believe it or not he actually had gotten into a plane accident where he broke his leg and arm. This tragedy ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to him. By being injured he wasn’t drafted to go war and he ended up getting a scholarship to attend and play football at the University of Wisconsin which is where the football legacy of the Fortune Family began. My dad and my three uncles all played football from flag football to college learning to appreciate and love the game as much as my grandfather did.

Now to fast forward a little going into freshman year of highschool I decided to quit basketball and bring my main attention to football and track. I was never forced to play football, but when I made this decision, my dad and uncles got very involved with encouraging me, motivating me,  and getting on my ass to make sure I was putting 110% effort into training and studying the game.

Since my injury occurred, I was very puzzled as they were as well. I honestly didn’t think I would be able to run again.  After breaking my fibula, ankle, and tearing two ligaments, I was put on crutches for 13 weeks and wasn't aloud to put any pressure on my left leg.  As you can imagine it played with my head quite a lot. At some points throughout the 13 weeks I even forgot what it was like to walk. During thanksgiving, my family got together and as you can assume the biggest topic among all my uncles was if I was going to play again. Being asked about 30 plus times over that weekend really made me think, is it worth jeopardizing my leg or do I make the ballsy move of doing what I love more than anything?

Now, May 16th I can proudly say and announce I have officially decided I AM going to play again. After long talks with my parents, watching old highlight tapes, and looking at my old jerseys there was no way I could end my career on a minor set back. Quoted from old football stud and former Bears running back Walter Payton, “Never die easy”. The average person would just have quit but I have put endless hours in the weightroom since january and am prepared to pick up where I left off where I left in october. This might’ve been one of the toughest decisions I individually have had to make, and I believe it was the right choice.