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Zephyrhills' Amos Makes His Way Back After Crash

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: September 7, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - With a steady smile and a familiar strut, Quentin Amos steps into the Zephyrhills training room each day and presents offensive line coach Troy Hochstetler with his left arm.

Though a couple of players have been waiting for a few minutes, Hochstetler gets to the 6-foot-3, 330-pound lineman right away.

First, some tape on Amos' wrist, which not long ago had two pins holding it in place. Next, a standard forearm pad covered by Hochstetler's invention - a couple of thigh pads and a knee pad tied together with shoe string - which protects Amos' once-mangled forearm and elbow. Finally, an Ace wrap and a white padded glove are put on over the other layers to keep everything in place.

With so many players in the training room each day, Hochstetler could easily get tired of all the work. But he'll never tire of seeing Amos happy and healthy, playing the sport he loves after an April automobile accident almost took everything away.

'I wasn't worried about football at all,' Hochstetler said of that day. 'I was just happy the kid's alive.'

Tonight, Amos will start at left guard and play in a rotation at defensive tackle against Mitchell in Zephyrhills' season opener. It hasn't even been five months since he lost control of his truck in the Lake Bernadette subdivision, flipped and hit a tree. The memories remain fresh.

'I was just being careless,' he said. 'That's what happens when you disobey your parents. I'm reminded of that every day.'

He said he is '90 percent' healthy, a remarkable turnaround from even two weeks ago, when coaches doubted he would be able to use the arm the way he did before the accident.

Those doubts began the moment Hochstetler and former assistant Matt McDermott (now at Sunlake) visited Amos and his family in the hospital. What they saw was horrifying - pictures of the arm, which would have been amputated had the bone been broken. They weren't thinking about football, but it was clear to them that weeks of rehabilitation would be necessary just to resume a normal life.

Amos spent two months in the hospital and was immediately a presence at Zephyrhills spring practices after his release. Deep down, he was determined to return to the field, but he had less than four months before the season started.

He didn't know for sure if he would play until two weeks into training camp, when he got clearance from doctors.

'At that point, it was still in the healing process,' Amos said. 'Basically, everything was taken out of the forearm - the muscle, everything. At first, I was pretty skeptical about hitting somebody with it.'

Since returning, Amos has made progress and has had to make adjustments. Even in the Kickoff Classic against Freedom, he was seen blocking with only his right arm, or just using the left as a flipper to momentarily push a defender away. Now he is extending his arms, which is necessary if he wants to return to defense full-time. His conditioning also has improved.

'It's a little more every day,' said Coach Tom Fisher. 'It's hard to tell. He's just getting used to doing things. It's all awkward for him. It's all like riding a bike. You're going to have your falls and your scrapes and your bruises.'

But with that unwavering smile, Amos will suit up, get wrapped up and take that familiar strut onto Bulldog Stadium. And he doesn't expect Mitchell to be ready for him.

'They're in for a surprise,' he said.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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