sbk92
2
- Messages
- 12,134
- Reaction score
- 6
Matt Crossman
Sporting News
There is no known precedent for this: When Robert Quinn takes the field for an NFL team this fall, he will do so with a brain tumor still inside his skull.
Sporting News contacted officials at the National Brain Tumor Foundation and the American Brain Tumor Association, a historian at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a doctor renowned for his knowledge of sports head injuries. None of them ever had heard of a football player—or athlete in any sport, for that matter—competing with such a condition.
Quinn, a 6-4, 265-pound defensive end/outside linebacker, not only will compete but he likely will excel.
He is tautly muscled, never takes a play off and has uncommon flexibility, which he uses to get around offensive tackles when not going through them. He also will be one of the fastest defensive linemen in the league. He beat Bears All-Pro defensive end Julius Peppers' 40-yard dash time at the University of North Carolina, and his dad, James, was an Olympic-caliber hurdler. Quinn could well become a top-five pick April 28.
All that for a guy doctors say should be dead.
Quinn's up-and-down journey began in 2007, his senior year at Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston, S.C. He suffered fierce headaches, blackouts and fainting spells. After he passed out at home one Sunday morning, his parents rushed him to the hospital.
The diagnosis of a brain tumor came quickly. Roughly the size of a dime, the tumor, found later to be benign, sat at the top of his spinal cavity. Fluid had built up around it, which caused the problems.
Doctors drilled two holes in his head to drain the fluid; there was so much he was told he'd never play sports again and should have been brain dead. But his recovery went far better than doctors expected. The surgery was in late October, and by the end of February, he was wrestling. He went undefeated to win his third consecutive state heavyweight championship, which had never had been done in South Carolina.
He returned to the football field in the fall of 2008 at North Carolina. He won the 2008 Brian Piccolo Award given to the ACC's most courageous football player. In 2009, his sophomore season, Quinn tallied 11 sacks and says he left at least that many unmade.
Here, Quinn's story takes another turn. Last year, after the Tar Heels' spring game, he accepted more than $5,000 in jewelry from a jeweler, in violation of NCAA rules, for which he was ruled permanently ineligible. He had no choice but to enter the 2011 draft.
There are precedents for a player getting drafted after not playing the previous season, but not many, and it's unusual for such a prospect to be selected as high as Quinn is expected. The jewelry issue is not expected to hurt Quinn, either. Those who know him say this was an isolated incident and was caused by naïveté, not ill intent. Steve LaPrad, his high school football coach, says he has coached thousands of kids, including some who became lawyers, doctors and judges, and Quinn is in the top five among quality young men, if not No. 1.
“If people talk to him, they will see what kind of a quality person this guy is,” said Gil Brandt, a longtime NFL personnel man who worked the NFL Scouting Combine as a liaison between the league and the draft prospects. “I had a long opportunity to talk to him and felt so good about him that I invited him to come to New York for the draft.”
If the jewelry and missed season issues don't scare away NFL general managers, will the tumor? So far, it appears not. He was cleared to play football by UNC and by the doctor who performed the surgery. Twice a year, he has the tumor checked to make sure fluid hasn't again accumulated.
He had an MRI performed at the Combine, and the results will be available to all NFL teams. “I would imagine they'll expend every ounce of effort to find out what this means,” Brandt said.
Quinn has no qualms about pursuing an NFL career. He views surviving the tumor as an opportunity for a second chance, and he's going to live his life to the fullest. For him, that means chasing down the quarterback. The way he plays, there are plenty of precedents for that.
Sporting News
There is no known precedent for this: When Robert Quinn takes the field for an NFL team this fall, he will do so with a brain tumor still inside his skull.
Sporting News contacted officials at the National Brain Tumor Foundation and the American Brain Tumor Association, a historian at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a doctor renowned for his knowledge of sports head injuries. None of them ever had heard of a football player—or athlete in any sport, for that matter—competing with such a condition.
Quinn, a 6-4, 265-pound defensive end/outside linebacker, not only will compete but he likely will excel.
He is tautly muscled, never takes a play off and has uncommon flexibility, which he uses to get around offensive tackles when not going through them. He also will be one of the fastest defensive linemen in the league. He beat Bears All-Pro defensive end Julius Peppers' 40-yard dash time at the University of North Carolina, and his dad, James, was an Olympic-caliber hurdler. Quinn could well become a top-five pick April 28.
All that for a guy doctors say should be dead.
Quinn's up-and-down journey began in 2007, his senior year at Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston, S.C. He suffered fierce headaches, blackouts and fainting spells. After he passed out at home one Sunday morning, his parents rushed him to the hospital.
The diagnosis of a brain tumor came quickly. Roughly the size of a dime, the tumor, found later to be benign, sat at the top of his spinal cavity. Fluid had built up around it, which caused the problems.
Doctors drilled two holes in his head to drain the fluid; there was so much he was told he'd never play sports again and should have been brain dead. But his recovery went far better than doctors expected. The surgery was in late October, and by the end of February, he was wrestling. He went undefeated to win his third consecutive state heavyweight championship, which had never had been done in South Carolina.
He returned to the football field in the fall of 2008 at North Carolina. He won the 2008 Brian Piccolo Award given to the ACC's most courageous football player. In 2009, his sophomore season, Quinn tallied 11 sacks and says he left at least that many unmade.
Here, Quinn's story takes another turn. Last year, after the Tar Heels' spring game, he accepted more than $5,000 in jewelry from a jeweler, in violation of NCAA rules, for which he was ruled permanently ineligible. He had no choice but to enter the 2011 draft.
There are precedents for a player getting drafted after not playing the previous season, but not many, and it's unusual for such a prospect to be selected as high as Quinn is expected. The jewelry issue is not expected to hurt Quinn, either. Those who know him say this was an isolated incident and was caused by naïveté, not ill intent. Steve LaPrad, his high school football coach, says he has coached thousands of kids, including some who became lawyers, doctors and judges, and Quinn is in the top five among quality young men, if not No. 1.
“If people talk to him, they will see what kind of a quality person this guy is,” said Gil Brandt, a longtime NFL personnel man who worked the NFL Scouting Combine as a liaison between the league and the draft prospects. “I had a long opportunity to talk to him and felt so good about him that I invited him to come to New York for the draft.”
If the jewelry and missed season issues don't scare away NFL general managers, will the tumor? So far, it appears not. He was cleared to play football by UNC and by the doctor who performed the surgery. Twice a year, he has the tumor checked to make sure fluid hasn't again accumulated.
He had an MRI performed at the Combine, and the results will be available to all NFL teams. “I would imagine they'll expend every ounce of effort to find out what this means,” Brandt said.
Quinn has no qualms about pursuing an NFL career. He views surviving the tumor as an opportunity for a second chance, and he's going to live his life to the fullest. For him, that means chasing down the quarterback. The way he plays, there are plenty of precedents for that.
