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To be sure, the end of Logan Carter's football career was a crushing one.
Just when the 2001 Nevada Union High School graduate had climbed the ranks of the University of Nevada Wolfpack's depth chart at linebacker, had earned the All-WAC Defensive Freshman of the Year honor and had followed up with another stellar season in Reno the next fall, his playing days were over.
But the end wasn't as abrupt as it may have seemed.
Sustaining a knee injury that would require surgery, Carter found himself sidelined for the final two games of his sophomore campaign. It wasn't until months later that he decided to call it a career.
"I missed the last two games and had knee surgery," Carter said. ""It was a light meniscus tear, nothing serious.
"It was miniscule compared to my problems."
It was earlier that fall that he first found that he was carrier of a genetic disease known as Ankylosing Spondylitis, an arthritic condition that causes what Carter described as a "slow-freezing" of the spine.
It made sense.
He started feeling symptoms of the disease as far back as his freshman high school season and, of course, there's also the fact that the disease runs in his family. His older brother, Noel - a former basketball and soccer standout at NU Š also tested positive for the disease. And an uncle also received the same diagnosis.
"It just progressed every year and got worse," Carter said. "In my junior year (of high school) I had trouble with hip flexors. And looking back, and knowing that it starts in the hips and moves up the spine to your neck, it makes since that I had trouble with my hips."
X-ray photos of his pelvic bone confirmed the onset of the disease, but Carter's body had long been feeling its progression. He said throughout his sophomore season, his body was slow to bounce back from the beating it took each Saturday as a Division I college linebacker.
Despite the lack of reps during the week, Carter, an undersized linebacker at 6-foot, 3-inches and 215 pounds, still racked up 76 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a sack in 10 games. He twice earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, including a week where he racked up 10 tackles and returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown to help Nevada down SMU.
He was shining on Saturdays, but recovering on the rest.
"It got to the point where I didn't practice," Carter said. "I'd just go through walk-throughs, mainly because I'd still be recovering from the game the weekend before."
Even though he had the diagnosis in hand, though, he was back out on the field for spring camp prior to what would have been his junior year."
"I convinced everyone to let me try it one more time," Carter said. "In our (spring camp) scrimmage, I felt great. And I did great in the game, had a bunch of tackles.
"But I always felt great when I was playing. It was the next four days, though, that were complete hell. I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it."
His body ached with pain as he sat in class, which he didn't even bother with during film sessions, instead standing to relieve some of the stress on his joints as he and his teammates studied their opponents for the next Saturday.
"I was in so much pain that I just ...," he said. "My body obviously was rejecting the fact that I was playing football. I left halfway through the practice."
And that's why when he walked away, it was a welcomed decision.
"It was almost a relief when it was over," said Carter's mother, Katie. "He was miserable."
"It really came down to whether he wanted to play with kids when he was 30," said Carter's own father, Bill. "When the doctor told Logan that, it made a huge difference in Logan's mind in that he needed to put this into perspective."
Though his brother was diagnosed with the disease, Noel, who works at a marketing firm in Thailand, has yet to feel the symptoms that his little brother Logan has long labored through. That might be, Logan said, because his brother didn't play the same sport.
"It's genetic," Logan said, "so it's not really been caused by only football. But I think it helped bring it out."
Knowing what her brother went through with the disease, and being a yoga instructor who firmly believes the body to be a temple, Katie was caught in the middle of watching her son make memories that will last him forever, meanwhile watching him pound his body.
"From my own perspective," Bill said, "because my brother-in-law suffers from this same disease and we saw how bad it could get, we were always biting our tongues somewhat."
Logan says that even with what he now knows, he has no regrets for hitting the field.
"That's a difficult question, thinking back if I had chose soccer or something that I wasn't banging up my body with," Carter said. "Because arthritis is a stiffening, the best thing is to stay active. So I have to do sports. I was just doing very athletic stuff that involved banging my spine against someone else's spine.
"Now I don't even run at all, except in a basketball game. I can't because my joints hurt too bad. I've got a road bike and I swim some. I find other ways to exercise, do a little bit of yoga. It would be one of the best things for me, really, helping with flexibility of my spine and hips. But, also, with that comes discipline and I'm pretty busy."
True enough, Carter is busy wrapping up a degree in civil engineering, one that he will complete this spring. In addition to all of the moments of glory, football has also provided him with a fully-funded college education and Š perhaps even more important in his case Š complete medical care.
"I still do have pain every day, but it definitely has subsided compared to what it was," he said. "I can sit through class now.
"Now that I'm not playing football, I can tell exactly what made it hurt so badly. For example, I know I can play two games of basketball. But if I play four games, I'll feel it the next day."
But the next day no longer seems like hell.
"I'm just enjoying being a student now," he said. "I've got more time and that's a good thing because I need all the time I can get for school. But, yeah, it's helped bring my grades up.
"I miss the camaraderie and doing well on the field. One reason I played football was that I excelled at it. But the only thing I really missed was my friends, my teammates and the game."
Sure, Bill and Katie miss those moments of glory their son found on the football field, but the fact that he's moved on with his life in such a positive manner seems to make them just as proud.
"I was thrilled he did so well in high school," Bill said. "I mean, we've had wonderful ride with Logan, watching all that he's accomplished. And he did extremely well. But the truth is, it was going to end eventually.
"My heart goes out to him. Life is sometimes not easy. But really, if you look at the glass half full, Logan has had a wonderful life. And I think life is so rich that this was just a chapter in Logan's life."
It's chapter written on the football field that even his mother, who used to arrive at the stadium on game day with an ever present stomach ache, is glad that he experienced.
"Sports teach our kids so much and it has such a wonderful social life," Katie said. "He took from football what it means to be a team player and to be a leader. He's had some great coaches and some great mentors.
"But life is just opening up for him now."
Showing a leader's concern for others, Carter emphasized that he wanted western Nevada County football fans to know that his playing days weren't the end.
They were only the beginning.
"The support from Nevada County ... still, to this day, people still approach me and congratulate me on representing our county well," he said. "I just want to say how much I respect that and how much I've enjoyed their support."
ooo
Contact sports editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail at brianh@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4240.
Just when the 2001 Nevada Union High School graduate had climbed the ranks of the University of Nevada Wolfpack's depth chart at linebacker, had earned the All-WAC Defensive Freshman of the Year honor and had followed up with another stellar season in Reno the next fall, his playing days were over.
But the end wasn't as abrupt as it may have seemed.
Sustaining a knee injury that would require surgery, Carter found himself sidelined for the final two games of his sophomore campaign. It wasn't until months later that he decided to call it a career.
"I missed the last two games and had knee surgery," Carter said. ""It was a light meniscus tear, nothing serious.
"It was miniscule compared to my problems."
It was earlier that fall that he first found that he was carrier of a genetic disease known as Ankylosing Spondylitis, an arthritic condition that causes what Carter described as a "slow-freezing" of the spine.
It made sense.
He started feeling symptoms of the disease as far back as his freshman high school season and, of course, there's also the fact that the disease runs in his family. His older brother, Noel - a former basketball and soccer standout at NU Š also tested positive for the disease. And an uncle also received the same diagnosis.
"It just progressed every year and got worse," Carter said. "In my junior year (of high school) I had trouble with hip flexors. And looking back, and knowing that it starts in the hips and moves up the spine to your neck, it makes since that I had trouble with my hips."
X-ray photos of his pelvic bone confirmed the onset of the disease, but Carter's body had long been feeling its progression. He said throughout his sophomore season, his body was slow to bounce back from the beating it took each Saturday as a Division I college linebacker.
Despite the lack of reps during the week, Carter, an undersized linebacker at 6-foot, 3-inches and 215 pounds, still racked up 76 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a sack in 10 games. He twice earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, including a week where he racked up 10 tackles and returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown to help Nevada down SMU.
He was shining on Saturdays, but recovering on the rest.
"It got to the point where I didn't practice," Carter said. "I'd just go through walk-throughs, mainly because I'd still be recovering from the game the weekend before."
Even though he had the diagnosis in hand, though, he was back out on the field for spring camp prior to what would have been his junior year."
"I convinced everyone to let me try it one more time," Carter said. "In our (spring camp) scrimmage, I felt great. And I did great in the game, had a bunch of tackles.
"But I always felt great when I was playing. It was the next four days, though, that were complete hell. I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it."
His body ached with pain as he sat in class, which he didn't even bother with during film sessions, instead standing to relieve some of the stress on his joints as he and his teammates studied their opponents for the next Saturday.
"I was in so much pain that I just ...," he said. "My body obviously was rejecting the fact that I was playing football. I left halfway through the practice."
And that's why when he walked away, it was a welcomed decision.
"It was almost a relief when it was over," said Carter's mother, Katie. "He was miserable."
"It really came down to whether he wanted to play with kids when he was 30," said Carter's own father, Bill. "When the doctor told Logan that, it made a huge difference in Logan's mind in that he needed to put this into perspective."
Though his brother was diagnosed with the disease, Noel, who works at a marketing firm in Thailand, has yet to feel the symptoms that his little brother Logan has long labored through. That might be, Logan said, because his brother didn't play the same sport.
"It's genetic," Logan said, "so it's not really been caused by only football. But I think it helped bring it out."
Knowing what her brother went through with the disease, and being a yoga instructor who firmly believes the body to be a temple, Katie was caught in the middle of watching her son make memories that will last him forever, meanwhile watching him pound his body.
"From my own perspective," Bill said, "because my brother-in-law suffers from this same disease and we saw how bad it could get, we were always biting our tongues somewhat."
Logan says that even with what he now knows, he has no regrets for hitting the field.
"That's a difficult question, thinking back if I had chose soccer or something that I wasn't banging up my body with," Carter said. "Because arthritis is a stiffening, the best thing is to stay active. So I have to do sports. I was just doing very athletic stuff that involved banging my spine against someone else's spine.
"Now I don't even run at all, except in a basketball game. I can't because my joints hurt too bad. I've got a road bike and I swim some. I find other ways to exercise, do a little bit of yoga. It would be one of the best things for me, really, helping with flexibility of my spine and hips. But, also, with that comes discipline and I'm pretty busy."
True enough, Carter is busy wrapping up a degree in civil engineering, one that he will complete this spring. In addition to all of the moments of glory, football has also provided him with a fully-funded college education and Š perhaps even more important in his case Š complete medical care.
"I still do have pain every day, but it definitely has subsided compared to what it was," he said. "I can sit through class now.
"Now that I'm not playing football, I can tell exactly what made it hurt so badly. For example, I know I can play two games of basketball. But if I play four games, I'll feel it the next day."
But the next day no longer seems like hell.
"I'm just enjoying being a student now," he said. "I've got more time and that's a good thing because I need all the time I can get for school. But, yeah, it's helped bring my grades up.
"I miss the camaraderie and doing well on the field. One reason I played football was that I excelled at it. But the only thing I really missed was my friends, my teammates and the game."
Sure, Bill and Katie miss those moments of glory their son found on the football field, but the fact that he's moved on with his life in such a positive manner seems to make them just as proud.
"I was thrilled he did so well in high school," Bill said. "I mean, we've had wonderful ride with Logan, watching all that he's accomplished. And he did extremely well. But the truth is, it was going to end eventually.
"My heart goes out to him. Life is sometimes not easy. But really, if you look at the glass half full, Logan has had a wonderful life. And I think life is so rich that this was just a chapter in Logan's life."
It's chapter written on the football field that even his mother, who used to arrive at the stadium on game day with an ever present stomach ache, is glad that he experienced.
"Sports teach our kids so much and it has such a wonderful social life," Katie said. "He took from football what it means to be a team player and to be a leader. He's had some great coaches and some great mentors.
"But life is just opening up for him now."
Showing a leader's concern for others, Carter emphasized that he wanted western Nevada County football fans to know that his playing days weren't the end.
They were only the beginning.
"The support from Nevada County ... still, to this day, people still approach me and congratulate me on representing our county well," he said. "I just want to say how much I respect that and how much I've enjoyed their support."
ooo
Contact sports editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail at brianh@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4240.
