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Don't worry - Grayslake North's George has a handle on all this

No drops. Not one.

With his black Grayslake North football jersey pulled over a hoodie, Adam George played catch on the sideline before the Knights' home game against Grayslake Central last Friday night. He caught every throw - high ones, lows ones, ones right at his numbers. He then spiraled the football back to his teammate. It's become a pregame routine for George since his season ended nearly a month ago.

His athleticism isn't surprising considering the sophomore free safety intercepted off 3 passes, including a pick six, in his varsity debut on Opening Night. He shows off hand-eye coordination in basketball and lacrosse, too.

"He's a player," Knights tight end/defensive end Payton Campbell said.

Adam George is a sick student-athlete.

A couple of weeks ago, doctors found a tumor on his brain.

When the doctors broke the news to Adams's mom, Diane, he says she was scared and cried. Which makes her normal.

But her brave, 6-foot-1, 195-pound son? He didn't spill a single tear.

No drops. Not one.

"I'm just trying to keep a positive attitude about it," George said.

So he keeps playing catch on the sideline. Smiling. Running around like a teenage boy who has nothing more than a scratch. Cheering on his teammates. When it comes to fun, Curious George has nothing on Adam George.

"That's how he is," Campbell said of his teammate. "He's high-spirited."

Adam George is lucky.

Four weeks after his 3-interception game against Willowbrook, Grayslake North was playing at Round Lake. The Knights recovered a Panthers fumble and George looked to throw a block. Instead, he got leveled by the sideline.

"I got up feeling all woozy," George said.

He went back in the game but came out again later with Grayslake North comfortably ahead on the scoreboard. Three days after that Friday night game, he went back to school and still wasn't feeling well. So he had an MRI and CT scan.

"They said I had an acute bleed in my brain," George said.

A week later, he was diagnosed with the brain tumor. The good news is, it's operable. He's scheduled for surgery later this month.

Goodbye, football season. Goodbye, basketball season. Goodbye, lacrosse season.

Hello, real life.

"You hate to say a concussion saved someone's life," Grayslake North coach Steve Wood said. "But it definitely prolonged his quality of life because it would have deteriorated pretty quickly. (The tumor) is benign. It sounds like they're going to be able to get it all relatively easily. They said if they wouldn't have (detected) it when they did, it could have started to cause other issues and complications."

There are reasons for George to be optimistic. He's young, athletic and strong, and, thanks to that concussion, doctors got a head start tackling the tumor.

"They said I'm not going to get back to my normal self until about six months," George said. "They said it's going to be a 98-percent chance of (the surgery) going perfect. They said the worst that can happen is they cut into a vein and I start bleeding."

He's not thinking negative thoughts. He won't allow it, and neither will his friends, teammates and coaches, the community and all of those associated with Grayslake North.

A GoFundMe page has been set up in George's name, and it flashes Adam George-like potential. Diane is a single mom who also has a daughter, Ashley, who's a recent Grayslake North graduate.

"The first day, (GoFundMe raised) over $5,000," George said. "There's just a crazy amount of support. Everybody has been coming up to me, praying for me."

Keep the dollars and prayers coming.

"We all love him. We all support him," Campbell said. "He's a brother. We're going to be right in his corner the whole way."

Keep those positive vibes coming. Adam George needs more of that, too.

jaguilar@dailyherald.com

• Follow Joe on Twitter: @JoeAguilar64

  Grayslake North's Adam George is taking a recent benign brain tumor diagnosis in stride. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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