Bouncing back
One minute Tony Smith was everybody’s all-American: a three-sport star at Lakeside High School, outstanding student, school leader. At Lakeside, Tony Smith was the “it” guy.
Then, only minutes into Lakeside’s fourth game of the year, there was Smith, being assisted to the sideline with a knee that had been turned into spaghetti inside, his high school football and wrestling careers now in the past tense.
Talk about a gut check.
But if it’s true that what counts in life is not what hand you’re dealt but what you do with it, then Tony Smith is still everybody’s all-American. Sort of a Mr. Everything on crutches.
Because Tony looks at it this way:
“The fact is that I won’t be playing football or wrestling this year, maybe never again. I love sports, and someone telling me that I can’t play any more kills me.
“But everyone is behind me, and it’s not like I don’t still have my leg. It’s not like I’m done for the rest of my life, so who am I to be whining about what I can’t do?”
Smith and his Lakeside classmates have learned the hard way how to put life’s challenges in the proper perspective, having lost several friends to untimely deaths in the past year.
“Kids our age are not supposed to go through so much,” he said. “But the experiences we’ve had make you value life that much more, and life goes on.
“I felt sorry for myself at the beginning,” he continued, “particularly at the doctor’s office that first day. But I knew I’d have to get over it at some point, and I decided it might as well be sooner than later. It was kind of tough coming back to school that first day after I got hurt, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I try to keep from moping around.”
Smith’s reaction to his injury doesn’t surprise his football coach, Brian Dunn.
“Of course we were all down when it happened – I heard Tony scream when he went down, and I’d never heard that before, so I knew it was serious. We were hoping for the best-case scenario, but we got the worst.
“We spent a lot of time crying at first, asking ourselves, ‘Where do we go from here?’ But Tony’s not only a good athlete, he’s a great kid with a wonderful support system, and family and friends.
“The way he looks at it, and us too, is that his athletic career’s not over. This is a setback, but he’ll continue to have options to play at the next level, and I’m convinced he’ll come out of it stronger physically and emotionally than before.
“There are other things in life besides sports, and Tony knows it.”
Smith remains an integral part of the team, charting plays, helping to put together scouting reports, and working one-on-one with a sophomore called up to the varsity since his injury.
“He’s watching game film right now,” said Dunn. “He’s staying involved with the guys on the team – he’s been their leader for the last two years. Heck, he’s the leader of the school, and an injury isn’t going to change that.”
The diagnosis on Smith’s knee is torn ACL, MCL and lateral meniscus. Surgery is scheduled in two weeks, when the swelling has receded. He remembers vividly what happened:
“It was my first carry of the game. The hole was plugged, so I stepped back, but someone was behind me. As I tried to move, my leg got caught between a couple guys. It didn’t hurt really badly right away, it just felt like I had no support.
“On the sideline, I got up to walk, and it felt funny. When I tried to pivot, it just didn’t work.”
The best case now is that surgery and rehabilitation go well and that he’s cleared in time for baseball season.
“I’m past the emotional part,” he said. “What I need to do now is still be a voice in the huddle and a mentor to the younger kids. I want to try to be as much of a leader now as I was before I got hurt.
“I would tell other athletes who get injured to not get depressed and don’t let the bad feelings catch up with you. Stay close to your friends and don’t be afraid to let them help you out.”