Reflections on a second chance
| The second senior season was
worth it for Montclair State running back Chris
D'Andrea. Montclair State athletics photo |
Chris D'Andrea feared the worst. The sharp pains in his foot
just weren't normal.
So as the senior Montclair State running back sat in a foot
specialist's office with his parents by his side, awaiting the
results of a second round of X-rays, he wondered if his football
career was over.
When the doctor finally entered, D'Andrea's fears were confirmed --
the Union, N.J., native had suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture in
his left foot. His season -- and presumably his career -- was over
after just four games in his senior season.
"The doctor came in and told me that my season was over and I
literally curled up into my father's arms and I started crying,"
D'Andrea said. "I said to myself, 'I'm never going to play football
again. This is it.'"
When the initial shock and disappointment wore off, D'Andrea began
to consider his father's proposition -- a medical redshirt. At
first, D'Andrea was hesitant. He wanted to graduate with the rest
of the senior class, the guys he battled with, bled with and grew
with over the previous four seasons. But he also didn't want his
career to end in a back room at a foot specialist's office. He
wanted it to end on the field, where's he played the game he loves
since Pop Warner days.
So D'Andrea put in for the redshirt, which was approved Dec. 15,
2010, just over two months after he suffered the injury in
Montclair State's game against NJAC rival Kean. D'Andrea began his
rehabilitation with ankle weights to strengthen his ankle and calf.
From there, he began endurance running on treadmills and
ellipticals. When the foot has healed enough, D'Andrea began
running three days a week while wearing a 60-pound weighted vest.
As the summer wore on, D'Andrea increased his training to the point
that, when training camp started, he was in the best shape of his
career.
"I trained harder, I lifted harder, I ran harder than I ever did in
my life," D'Andrea said. "I put my body to the limit. ... It paid
off."
D'Andrea, who said he came into the season expecting 15-16 carries
per game, instead found himself getting 25-30 each week. At
5-foot-9, D'Andrea doesn't scream "workhorse back." But D'Andrea's
solidly-built, 190-frame was able to take the...
