Travis Roy

[Rock Strongo]

If you are old enough and played hockey, your mom probably called you and asked you to quit like mine did after this happened.

Hockey player's life changed in 11 seconds - CNN.com

 

[BigKen]

A million mothers made their sons stop playing football after this famous paralysis in October 1985.

Where do you start 30 years later? By framing it as the worst of sports stories? Or the best of sports stories? With the sight of two college kids colliding on a football field and only one walking away?

Or do you start with the men they became? Because Marc Buoniconti sits in his penthouse condominium, sits overlooking the ocean, sits as he must for the last 30 years and says, "At that moment, you could never have imagined all the ripples from that one tackle."


One ripple started The Miami Project To Cure Paralysis with the University of Miami. Another raised $450 million for a cure, the most ever for a sports-related charity. There were ripples for saved lives, improved lives, dramatically altered lives.

And one complicated ripple surfaced nearly two decades later when Buoniconti met the man who collided with him that fateful game. He measured how the stranger's pain and anger showed a second life was broken by that tackle in a far different manner than Buoniconti's own paralysis.

"What's your dream?" Buoniconti asked him.

There was a pause, because, as Herman Jacobs says now, "No one had ever asked me that before. You have to understand where I was at that time. My life was up and down. It was a struggle. I couldn't even understand why. I knew I needed help, but I didn't know how to talk about it or bring it all up."
http://store.sun-sentinel.com/dolphins-at-50-commemorative-book.html
"He's the one we had to account for," Jacobs said.

It was an ordinary play, and an ordinary tackle, that changed their worlds. Buoniconti became the face of football tragedy. Over time and personal courage, he transformed into a face of hope.

Last month, thanks to the Miami Project, a paralyzed man was injected with transplanted cells carrying the hope of regenerating movement.

Jacobs' path was different from Buoncionti's. Paralyzing a second player left him ruined in some form, too. The guilt. The anger. He was talked into staying with football, but it was never the same for him. Nor was life, it seems.

"I could be in drugs or anything by now," he said. "I knew it was bothering me. I didn't know how badly it was bothering me until I met Marc."

Buoniconti had just made peace with The Citadel the year before in 2006. The school made it an annual event to raise funds for The Miami Project. In 2007, Buoniconti wanted to invite Jacobs, who was found to be managing a fast-food restaurant across the street from Middle Tennessee's football stadium.

"What's your dream?"

Jacobs knew his dream when Buoniconti asked him that day. He wanted to be a chef. The answer makes Buoniconti laugh.

"I thought he'd say a coach or a trainer or something in sports," Buoniconti said.

A few meetings after that meeting, Buoniconti invited Jacobs to come down to Miami for a week. Just to get to know each other. In the course of the visit, they went to the culinary school Johnson & Wales.

They met school officials. It was explained how to apply for school and scholarships. Buoniconti left it at that. Jacobs had to want it himself. A few months later, he called Buoniconti to say he was enrolled and had a scholarship. There was only one problem.

"I have no place to live," he said.

"Live with me," Buoniconti said.

He and Jacobs lived together for six months ("He's a loud snorer," Buoniconti said.) For a while, Buoniconti's 24-hour nurse was sick and each morning Jacobs had to pick up the man he once tackled and set him in his wheelchair ("He's heavy!" Jacobs said).

Jacobs received his diploma in 2010 with Buoniconti cheering. He became a chef in Miami for a while. He now is a manager for the restaurant chain PDQ headquartered in St. Petersburg.

Monday marks 30 years since they collided as college kids. Those ripples over the years from the worst of sports stories turned into something beautiful.

"He's a special, special friend," Buoniconti said of Jacobs.

"I'll love that man forever," Jacobs said of Buoniconti. "That's how I feel about him. Love."

 

[tducey]

I remember that Roy story, very tragic. Good to see both these athletes are living somewhat normal lives which is great considering the circumstances.

 

[Rex Racer]

Ma Racer was never too fond of me playing football and hockey. She was always concerned that I would get hurt.

I played anyways and I did get hurt, a lot. Mostly playing football.

My knees were already junk by the time Travis Roy was paralyzed and I was finishing the rehab for my 4th surgery (ACL) on my right knee and would only play men's league and pick up games for one more year before giving it up and taking up coaching my kids and helping with the administration of our youth hockey league.

The Roy story was/is incredibly sad. Seconds into his first shift on the ice for BU he slams head first into the boards and he that was the end of it.

The Buoniconti story is just as sad, yet it highlights the tireless efforts of Patriots, Dolphins (ring of Honor) and NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti in establishing The Miami Project.