TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Three Players, Three Injuries, One Dream

ADVERTISEMENT

By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Each arrived on campus with so much promise. Jae Thaxton, Emmanuel Dunbar and Mister Alexander had the complete package that recruiters travel the country hoping to find: speed, size, athleticism, toughness and the special swagger of an elite player.
Thaxton arrived at Florida State in 2004. Dunbar enrolled in the spring of 2005. Alexander left his Texas home for FSU in the summer of 2006. By now, all three expected to be impact players for the Noles, and once their time wearing garnet and gold was done, they envisioned NFL teams as interested as all those college recruiters once were.

But sometimes dreams get hijacked on the way to becoming reality. Concussions derailed Thaxton. Back surgery slammed Dunbar to the ground. And a season-ending knee injury on his first play as a Nole sidelined Alexander. Here is a look at three players, three injuries and one dream:

'I'm Trying To Start On Plan B'

The first and only start of Thaxton's college career came at Maryland last season. Thaxton had been cleared after missing four games because of a concussion he suffered earlier in the season against Clemson. On the game's first two plays, Thaxton made tackles. By the 12th play, Thaxton was back on the sideline. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound linebacker hasn't played a snap since.

'Something went haywire, because he was doing so great and all of a sudden he's in the wrong gap and doing the wrong thing,' defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said two days after the game. 'You hate it for Jae.'

Thaxton, who led all FSU true freshmen with 19 tackles in 2004, suffered his first concussion in the second game of his sophomore season vs. The Citadel. He never fully recovered, and was granted a medical redshirt. After Thaxton played in the 2006 season opener at Miami, his trademark all-out playing style delivered another crushing blow in FSU's third game. Charging toward a Clemson player to make a tackle, Thaxton made a jarring hit but was unable to steady himself once he got up.

'It was a pretty serious lick,' said Thaxton, who turned 22 on Sept. 9. 'I dented my face mask.'

More than a year later, Thaxton continues to struggle with his playing career most likely behind him. FSU team doctors informed Thaxton right before two-a-days started in August that he would not be cleared to play again. Thaxton continues to attend games and practices while serving as a student assistant, but every time the team runs onto the field, Thaxton wants to join his teammates.

'It eats me inside every time,' Thaxton said recently. 'It's something you've got to deal with. I'm trying to work on Plan B. I knew football wasn't guaranteed. I wasn't going into it ignorant. I'm not over it. I'm still hoping someone comes up with a helmet that's 100 percent concussion proof; if so, I'll be back out there.'

Back On The Field

Dunbar and Thaxton have become good friends, sharing many laughs and workouts together the past couple of years as they rehabbed together. As Thaxton dealt with his concussion symptoms a year ago, Dunbar struggled to recover from major lower-back surgery.

Dunbar played in eight games as a freshman in 2005, but in the second game last season against Troy, he fell to the ground and couldn't get back to his feet. A motorized cart was needed to remove the 6-5, 280-pound defensive tackle from the field. He was granted a medical redshirt and had surgery in November to repair two herniated disks.

'I talk to Jae every day,' Dunbar said. 'It's really, really hard to watch everybody else play and you know you could do what they're doing. When you are not playing, even though you are on the team, you don't feel part of the team. Everybody is talking about what they did in practice or in the game, and what are you going to talk about? What you did in rehab?'

Dunbar was unable to fully participate in spring practice, but after not playing in the season opener at Clemson, he played in FSU's victories against UAB and at Colorado, where he recorded his first tackle of the season - prompting a big smile on his face when he returned to the locker room.

'I finally felt like part of the team again,' Dunbar said. 'It took me so long.'

For Dunbar, the dream is alive once more. He admits the time off has taken its toll on his skills, but his back is feeling better every day and he expects to continue to get better.

'I was definitely thinking this might be it,' Dunbar said. 'You never miss it until it's gone.'

Another Comeback Just Beginning

Alexander redshirted his freshman season a year ago, but as fall camp progressed, he began to establish himself as a player whom running backs should try to avoid. Alexander's hard-hitting style earned him a spot on FSU's kickoff coverage for the season opener at Clemson.

Alexander didn't get onto the field until the opening kickoff the second half. Racing down field to make a tackle, he planted his foot and then felt his left knee take a wrong turn. On his first college play, Alexander's season was finished.

And this time, it was worse than when he felt the same knee pop - causing him to miss most of his senior season - two years earlier at Eisenhower High in Aldine, Texas.

'I knew that it was something bad,' he said last month, a day before surgery to repair a torn ACL. 'I went through it in high school, and I'm going through it again now. You've just got to wait your turn. If it was my first time, I'd probably be a little scared.'

Alexander, 19, is the youngest of the trio. He expects to be fully recovered by next season and is confident he has time to make his mark. Meanwhile, Thaxton intends to remain in top physical shape just in case the miracle he is seeking makes a visit.

Until then, he will continue to help out the Noles any way he can. And to any player worried about getting hurt and being in his shoes, Thaxton has this advice:

'It would be the same as I tell myself, 110 percent all the time and hope it doesn't go wrong,' he said. 'If I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd probably do the same thing: I'd go down full speed and drop him just like I did.'

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at scarter@tampatrib.com or (850) 294-3088.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT