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HizzleRocker
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Many examples, but I'll focus on 2:
1) Tony Hills - In 2002 he gave a verbal commit to the Horns. In 2003 he had a knee injury so significant, he was told by almost everyone he would never play football again. Mack assured him that he offered the scholarship to the young man - not the football player. Here is an excerpt from an article:
"The next week, though, Hills lost sensation in his foot; it seemed as if it wasn't his own size 16 that he saw dangling below his jeans. When a third diagnosis was offered, it was much more dire: nerve damage. Doctors told Hills he had only a 2% chance of playing again. "I never understood what was going on," Hills says. Brown got a message to Mary the day after he heard about Hills' knee: UT would honor its offer. But Hills had been skeptical even before the latest diagnosis. He'd heard enough broken-down-athlete horror tales that ended with "Hey, it's a business."
To reassure both of them, Hills' mother scheduled his official visit to Austin later that December. She insisted on having a wheelchair waiting for him when they arrived. Hills was distraught; that would make him look all the more hopeless. He couldn't fathom how fast he'd gone from Parade All-America to … what, a stock boy at the local grocery?
Pushed by his mom, Hills rolled into the UT football complex and down to Brown's office. In his soft drawl, the coach insisted he still wanted Hills to be part of the Longhorns family. Again, he said Hills could keep his scholarship and work as a student assistant. Maybe he'd help out in the weight room or at practice. But playing football was one subject Brown didn't broach. There was no reason to make the kid talk about how bad he was hurting. Let him focus on his grades, and if he got healthy, great. If not … "You'll help us coach," Brown said. "You're going to get to Texas either way."
2) Kevin Shorter - Nation's #14 Athlete and a Texas verbal commit. Recently he has been backtracking though, saying he is keeping his options open. Then recently he suffered a traumatic spinal compression injury. He was in ICU for days and football suddenly became the last thing on his mind. Mack reached out to him and family and assured them his scholarship would remain good.
In the era of oversigning; Gray shirting; and coaches pulling schollies right and left - We at least have a coach or two out there who treat these kids with some dignity.
1) Tony Hills - In 2002 he gave a verbal commit to the Horns. In 2003 he had a knee injury so significant, he was told by almost everyone he would never play football again. Mack assured him that he offered the scholarship to the young man - not the football player. Here is an excerpt from an article:
"The next week, though, Hills lost sensation in his foot; it seemed as if it wasn't his own size 16 that he saw dangling below his jeans. When a third diagnosis was offered, it was much more dire: nerve damage. Doctors told Hills he had only a 2% chance of playing again. "I never understood what was going on," Hills says. Brown got a message to Mary the day after he heard about Hills' knee: UT would honor its offer. But Hills had been skeptical even before the latest diagnosis. He'd heard enough broken-down-athlete horror tales that ended with "Hey, it's a business."
To reassure both of them, Hills' mother scheduled his official visit to Austin later that December. She insisted on having a wheelchair waiting for him when they arrived. Hills was distraught; that would make him look all the more hopeless. He couldn't fathom how fast he'd gone from Parade All-America to … what, a stock boy at the local grocery?
Pushed by his mom, Hills rolled into the UT football complex and down to Brown's office. In his soft drawl, the coach insisted he still wanted Hills to be part of the Longhorns family. Again, he said Hills could keep his scholarship and work as a student assistant. Maybe he'd help out in the weight room or at practice. But playing football was one subject Brown didn't broach. There was no reason to make the kid talk about how bad he was hurting. Let him focus on his grades, and if he got healthy, great. If not … "You'll help us coach," Brown said. "You're going to get to Texas either way."
2) Kevin Shorter - Nation's #14 Athlete and a Texas verbal commit. Recently he has been backtracking though, saying he is keeping his options open. Then recently he suffered a traumatic spinal compression injury. He was in ICU for days and football suddenly became the last thing on his mind. Mack reached out to him and family and assured them his scholarship would remain good.
In the era of oversigning; Gray shirting; and coaches pulling schollies right and left - We at least have a coach or two out there who treat these kids with some dignity.
