Lakes' Zell won't walk away from football
No parent would want his or her child to make the same mistake James Zell did.
But every parent would be proud to have a child just like Zell.
Because Zell, a senior running back at Lakes, didn't run from his mistake.
He didn't hide behind Mommy or Daddy or a laundry list of excuses.
And he handled the repercussions he faced with dignity and class.
Valedictorians and Division I all-staters don't come along every day, and neither do stand-up kids like Zell.
“Many kids in James' situation would have found fault somewhere else. They would have tried to pass the blame, to the coaches, to anyone, Lakes football coach Luke Mertens said. “You don't often hear, ‘You know what, I screwed up.' But that's what James said and I think that speaks volumes of him as a person.
Too bad Zell isn't being rewarded now for the trust and good will he earned back last year in the wake of his big mistake. Instead, it's as if he's being punished all over again. It almost seems cruel.
After rushing for 230 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns over the first two games of the season, Zell, a 5-foot-6 speedy, slippery sparkplug, tore the MCL ligament in his right knee in a Week 3 loss to Vernon Hills. He spent four weeks rehabbing and finally returned to the backfield last week in Lakes' rivalry game against Antioch.
But shortly after kickoff, Zell took a handoff, planted his right leg and felt a pop. He knew something was wrong immediately.
He limped off the field and didn't return. Doctors discovered earlier this week that he had not only sprained the previously injured MCL but that he had also torn his ACL ligament and the surrounding cartilage.
The injury knocks Zell out for the season, a season in which he wanted nothing more than to continue to redeem himself while leading Lakes (5-2) into the playoffs.
“I feel so bad for James, said Lakes linebacker Brody Griffin, one of Zell's best friends since childhood. “He is such a good player. I don't think I've ever met anyone better. And to know what he went through last year just to be able to play this year … he busted his butt. And now he's just done. It's not (fair).
Last year, when Zell was a junior, he was excited for football camp to start in August. He loved playing the game and was projected to be one of the Eagles' top running backs.
But one day, during those hot, grueling, early preseason practices, he made the first of two choices he has regretted every day since.
“I just decided not to go to practice, Zell said. “I just made a dumb choice not to show up.
“I was being lazy. I was feeling overworked and really tired and I just didn't feel the need to come, so I stayed home.
When Zell came to practice the next day, Mertens informed him that he broke team policy with an unexcused absence. He told Zell that if he missed another practice without a written excuse that he would be kicked off the team for the entire season.
Zell missed another practice. No explanation. No written excuse.
“I guess I didn't think they would kick me off. I didn't think it would really happen, Zell said. “I tested it. I was beat up and tired again and I was selfish enough not to show up again.
“It was my fault completely and they did it. I got kicked off.
Zell was shocked. And in sudden agony.
“It's the most I've ever regretted anything. I think about it all the time, Zell said. “I love football so much and all of a sudden it was gone because of something stupid I did. It was just devastating.
But here's where Zell separated himself. Here's where Zell made his parents and his coaches beam.
Zell begged Mertens to let him back on the team.
Mertens refused, but came up with another option. A much less attractive option, mind you.
“I told him that he could come back and practice with the team. And practice only, Mertens said. “His name wouldn't be on the roster, he couldn't dress, he couldn't stand on the sidelines for games. He wouldn't even be allowed to come to team dinners.
“It was practice only.
Zell jumped at the opportunity.
Mertens is certain many kids would have thumbed their noses at the “opportunity. Griffin does, too.
“It took a lot for James to do that, Griffin said. “He went to practice every day and worked as hard as anyone and he wasn't getting anything out of it. That's not easy.
But Zell says that he actually was getting something out of being the scout team running back when he should have been the star who was getting his name in the paper every week. He was getting something out of working hard for no tangible rewards, out of watching from the stands as his team won and marched to the playoffs without him.
He was getting perspective. He was getting a hard-knock lesson about life, about responsibility and about doing the right thing.
“It was a huge wake-up call for me, Zell said. “I was wishing I could play. But part of me was actually glad the whole thing happened.
“It was hard, but it taught me a lot. It made me think that I need to stop being lazy and stop all this nonsense. That's something you have to think about when you're out in the real world. When you get a job, there are no excuses for stuff like that. You can't just say, ‘Oh, I'm not going to show up today.' You have to be more responsible than that.
Zell says that his “light bulb moment has changed him in other ways. He's now more serious in the classroom and is doing better in school than he ever has.
He's also more driven than ever to go to college. He says he wants to try to walk on to a team somewhere, maybe at a junior college.
Considering that his first year of football wasn't until eighth grade and that he missed all of last season and most of this season, Zell believes he has a lot more football in him and that he hasn't even scratched the surface of what he can do.
“I just have to do well in rehab, work hard and hopefully good things will happen, Zell said. “I love football so much. That's what I do. Ever since I was a little kid, my family knew I was going to be a football player and it's something I just can't let go of.
“Last year, I learned a lot about heart and about not giving up. This isn't it for me. I'm going to fight back to play football again. Just like I did before.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com