By: Gabe Kamins, Opinions Editor
“I heard a pop. As I was falling to the ground, I remember looking up into the stadium lights, thinking, ‘oh no’. I was rolling around on the ground in pain and was biting down as hard as I could on my mouthguard. And then at that point, it all hit me that I’m not going to be able to play for a long time.”
Grayson Vintz has been playing sports for practically his entire life. At age 5, he started playing baseball. 2 years later, he picked up his first football. He also was a great wrestler. Thankfully for Grayson, while sports were a large part of his childhood, injuries were not. “I never got injured playing baseball, and didn’t get hurt at all playing football before high school,” he explained. He continued excelling in sports up until high school, where he made both the JV baseball and JV football teams as a freshman. As a sophomore, Grayson made the Varsity football team, where he was expected to be a significant contributor on offense and defense for the Hawks. But that was all put on hold when he “tore [his] bicep during a tire pull drill”, forcing him to miss 6 weeks and “basically all of training camp and the preseason.” This was very difficult for Grayson, as training camp is where players compete for playing time. And, as a sophomore in his first year of Varsity football, Grayson believed he “lost the opportunity to prove [himself].” Simply put, it was devastating for Grayson. But it wouldn’t be the last time he had to deal with an injury.
It was a wet, rainy evening at Marriotts Ridge High School. The message was clear for the Hawks – “win, and you’re in.” If heavily favored River Hill took down the Mustangs, they would be heading to the playoffs. By this time, Grayson had fully recovered from his bicep tear, and had proved himself. He was now one of the team’s starting linebackers, contributing to one of the best defenses in the county. River Hill was cruising early on, and built a huge lead heading into the 4th quarter. Grayson was having a great game. “I had 4 or 5 tackles for loss,” he recalled. Then, it happened.
“I cut through the offensive line and was two yards in the backfield,” he explained. “The running back saw me and cut the opposite way.” Grayson fell to the ground, pain rushing in his knee. He remembers “trying to put pressure on [his] leg and thinking that [his] knee was going to dislocate.” The pain would soon subside, but the damage was done. “They brought me over to the sidelines and did the ACL tests. They did the tests on my regular leg, and I felt a hard stop. Then they did it on my hurt leg, and I felt nothing,” he remembered. Then, it hit him. “I started crying on the sidelines. Not because of the pain, but because I [would] not be able to play football for a long time.” The game was eventually stopped early due to tornado warnings, and River Hill was victorious. It was a bittersweet victory for the Hawks, who by this time knew that they would likely be without one of their best players for a long time.
The results came in the next day. Grayson tore his ACL and his lateral and medial meniscus, as well as his ALL, and sprained his MCL and PCL. Two weeks later, Grayson got surgery on his injured knee. He remembers feeling “nervous, but also calm and collected” the day of the surgery.
After 8 months of long, intensive rehab, Grayson was finally cleared to play football again. But shortly after he was cleared, it happened again. One day at practice, Grayson was guarding an out and up route, and placed [his] hips and feet in opposite directions.” He “heard a loud crunch and limped off the field.” Initially, Grayson was confused about what just happened, as he “thought it was [his] ACL again”, but the injury was “nothing like the first time [he tore his ACL].” He went to get an MRI and found out that there was damage to the ACL, but there was nothing conclusive. Thus, he was allowed to continue to practice, but if his knee started to show swelling, he would have to get surgery. Sure enough, 4 days later, the knee started to swell. Grayson kept trying to play through the swollen knee, but when he failed to make a cut on the field, “[he] knew [he] was done.” Once again, he had severe damage to his knee – a torn ACL, torn ALL, torn lateral meniscus, and a PCL strain. Grayson would end up missing his entire season of football, and, for the second straight year, his entire season of baseball.
“I was heartbroken,” Grayson explained. “I was ready to give up on football.” But, he “decided that [he] made it this far”, and was not done with the sport he’s played for nine years. Currently, Grayson is still rehabbing in hopes of getting back to 100% soon. He is very motivated throughout the process, stating that he “wants to play the game [he loves] one more time, and [is] looking to win a state championship.” And for that to happen for River Hill, they’ll need a healthy Grayson Vintz.