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<H1 ALIGN=CENTER><IMG ALT="Final Horn"ALIGN =CENTER WIDTH=296 HEIGHT=118 BORDER=0 SRC="../pic/finlhorn.gif"> </H1>
<H2 ALIGN=CENTER> by Kent Partridge </H2>

<P><FONT SIZE=6>T</FONT>he sun was just beginning to rise on a humid August morning in 1996. A rooster crowed from somewhere over on Snake Hill while a wide-eyed freshman and a bleary-eyed publicist shared a seat on the concrete ramp which led to the start of two-a-day practice.
<P>"What's that?," the freshman asked. "A rooster," was the dumfounded reply. "They really make that sound? I thought that was just a story," the freshman said.

<P>He wasn't going to participate in drills that day, so the conversation continued to the time a classmate had turned a chicken loose in the halls of Robinson High School in Fairfax, Va. He said it was the only one he had ever seen that wasn't on a plate or in a bucket.

<P>About three weeks ago he posed another question to that same publicist.
"You have to help me," he said. "Every time I read my name it says 'oft-injured' Brent Mueller. What is that 'oft-injured' thing?"

<P>Is there a better explanation? "What about 'continually hurt'?," he offered.
Need evidence? How about six surgeries since October of 1994, five since February of 1996.

<P>So you think you'd like to be a college football player? Brent Mueller did and waged a game of chance and persistence with his own body to prove it. You could say he's played an extended game of "injury poker" and won.

<P>In October of 1994 the bidding opened with a posterior cruciate ligament tear to the left knee. Mueller saw that and raised the ante by 90 tackles and about three handful of sacks to close his high school career.

<P>The surgery dealer checked until February of 1996, then raised young Mueller a left shoulder arthroscope and followed that with reconstructive surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee following the Maryland-Virginia Prep All-Star Game in July.

<P>Still true to the dream, Mueller worked and rehabilitated throughout the Fall, raising the chances for a bid to participate in spring drills. Then, like a recurring nightmare, anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in the left knee were shredded during bowl practice and surgery loomed for the new year.

<P>Refusing to fold, Mueller discarded another seven months of rehab and asked for fresh cards. The brooding dealer responded by misdealing a left patellar (kneecap) fracture and more surgery in August '97. Then, just for good measure, raised him the exact same procedure in December of that year.

<P>Surely by now it was time to fold, and for most there would have been no question.

<P>There was no question for Brent Mueller. He had played this hand too long to fold it now.

<P>Preseason workouts began without Brent Mueller for the third straight year in 1998, and the dealer smugly smiled as the game continued. But three weeks ago today, after a seemingly endless string of bad hands. Brent Mueller finally drew a royal flush on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.

<P>Not only had he finally realized his dream of playing college football, he had beaten the dealer and raised him a few tackles to boot. After close to three years at the table, Brent Mueller had finally called and won the hand.

<P>It's been said there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and after six surgeries some have tried to find where that line exists for Brent Mueller. Maybe the reason they haven't found it is because they are looking in the wrong place.

<P>There are no lines which limit courage and perseverance.

<P ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="./" TARGET="_top">TABLE OF CONTENTS</A> | <A HREF="../" TARGET="_top">PROGRAM INDEX</A> | <A HREF="../../index.html" TARGET="_top">HOME</A></P>

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	<TITLE>Kent Partridge</TITLE>

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	<BODY <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">>

	<H1 ALIGN=CENTER><IMG ALT="Final Horn"ALIGN =CENTER WIDTH=296 HEIGHT=118 BORDER=0 SRC="../pic/finlhorn.gif"> </H1>
	<H2 ALIGN=CENTER> by Kent Partridge </H2>

	<P><FONT SIZE=6>T</FONT>he sun was just beginning to rise on a humid August morning in 1996. A rooster crowed from somewhere over on Snake Hill while a wide-eyed freshman and a bleary-eyed publicist shared a seat on the concrete ramp which led to the start of two-a-day practice.
	<P>"What's that?," the freshman asked. "A rooster," was the dumfounded reply. "They really make that sound? I thought that was just a story," the freshman said.

	<P>He wasn't going to participate in drills that day, so the conversation continued to the time a classmate had turned a chicken loose in the halls of Robinson High School in Fairfax, Va. He said it was the only one he had ever seen that wasn't on a plate or in a bucket.

	<P>About three weeks ago he posed another question to that same publicist.
	"You have to help me," he said. "Every time I read my name it says 'oft-injured' Brent Mueller. What is that 'oft-injured' thing?"

	<P>Is there a better explanation? "What about 'continually hurt'?," he offered.
	Need evidence? How about six surgeries since October of 1994, five since February of 1996.

	<P>So you think you'd like to be a college football player? Brent Mueller did and waged a game of chance and persistence with his own body to prove it. You could say he's played an extended game of "injury poker" and won.

	<P>In October of 1994 the bidding opened with a posterior cruciate ligament tear to the left knee. Mueller saw that and raised the ante by 90 tackles and about three handful of sacks to close his high school career.

	<P>The surgery dealer checked until February of 1996, then raised young Mueller a left shoulder arthroscope and followed that with reconstructive surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee following the Maryland-Virginia Prep All-Star Game in July.

	<P>Still true to the dream, Mueller worked and rehabilitated throughout the Fall, raising the chances for a bid to participate in spring drills. Then, like a recurring nightmare, anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in the left knee were shredded during bowl practice and surgery loomed for the new year.

	<P>Refusing to fold, Mueller discarded another seven months of rehab and asked for fresh cards. The brooding dealer responded by misdealing a left patellar (kneecap) fracture and more surgery in August '97. Then, just for good measure, raised him the exact same procedure in December of that year.

	<P>Surely by now it was time to fold, and for most there would have been no question.

	<P>There was no question for Brent Mueller. He had played this hand too long to fold it now.

	<P>Preseason workouts began without Brent Mueller for the third straight year in 1998, and the dealer smugly smiled as the game continued. But three weeks ago today, after a seemingly endless string of bad hands. Brent Mueller finally drew a royal flush on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.

	<P>Not only had he finally realized his dream of playing college football, he had beaten the dealer and raised him a few tackles to boot. After close to three years at the table, Brent Mueller had finally called and won the hand.

	<P>It's been said there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and after six surgeries some have tried to find where that line exists for Brent Mueller. Maybe the reason they haven't found it is because they are looking in the wrong place.

	<P>There are no lines which limit courage and perseverance.

	<P ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="./" TARGET="_top">TABLE OF CONTENTS</A> \| <A HREF="../" TARGET="_top">PROGRAM INDEX</A> \| <A HREF="../../index.html" TARGET="_top">HOME</A></P>

	<P ALIGN=CENTER><I>© 1999 Auburn Network, Inc.</I></P>


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