The glory days of high school

MOSES LAKE — Michael Tucker is an energetic 18-year-old. Even sitting for an interview, he radiates movement, his leg continually bouncing and his chair position changing with each passing moment.

At the mention of football, arguably his favorite thing in the world and all-consuming passion for the last four years, his face lights up and he begins to speak with the sureness of someone who knows their stuff.

However, his football story began long before his senior season. As a sophomore, Michael was named to the all-league first team for defense and has been nothing but impressive to his coaches and peers since he stepped onto the field.

"You can really tell he loves football," said coach Greg Kittrell. "He's always been a leader and has set the standard on the team."

His final year of high school football became the kind of season teams, coaches, parents and fans dread — the kind of season that ends with a serious injury, an injury that went undetected for six weeks.

It all began Sept. 16, when Michael suited up to start at corner for the Chiefs against Richland. The game progressed with the usual hits and grinding defense Moses Lake has been known for. As the half closed, Michael hit a Richland player and was shaken up on the play. On the sidelines he complained of some neck pain.

"It was the last play of the half," Michael said. "The trainer checked it out during halftime and I took some pain killers."

Michael finished out the game, playing the same aggressive defense coaches like to see.

"He's a great cover guy," said Kittrell. "He draws the occasional pass interference call because he's so aggressive on the ball. He's been aggressive from the start."

Michael's neck continued to bother him, but he figured it was nothing more than the usual aches and pains that every football player keeps to himself over a season. Some have since chastised Michael for keeping quiet.

"That's just the way football is, you just play with pain," he said. "Everyone has injuries. You just play through them. I didn't want to go to the doctor, find out something was wrong and not play."

Michael continued to play through his senior season, stretching and icing his neck while on the sidelines during games and continuing to work hard on defense. So hard in fact, that he earned another all-league first team nod this season.

"The thing is that it didn't hurt while I was playing," Michael said. "It just hurt during the down time."

After six weeks of hard hitting football, Michael suited up for the Eastmont game and an eerily similar situation to when the injury first occurred brought his neck injury to light.

"I hit a guy and I was a little slow getting up," Michael said. With just one defensive series left in the first half, Michael elected to head to the locker room and have the trainer take another look at his neck.

As the game continued, Michael sat on the sidelines, icing his neck and trying to watch the action.

"I was laying on the training table during the game," he said. "It's a little hard to hold two bags of ice against your neck."

As he lay on the sidelines, intending to head back out onto the field, Bill Waites, a local doctor and player parent, came down from the stands, gave Tucker a neck brace and set up an appointment to have a CAT scan done the following day in Moses Lake.

Michael's CAT scan revealed a fracture of his C1 vertebra. The C1 vertebra is the upper most vertebra of the spinal column and is just below the base of the skull. Most C1 injuries occur when a swimmer dives into shallow water and makes contact with the ground or pool below. Michael's brake was a rare version of this kind of fracture, instead of breaking on the sides of the vertebra, the fracture occurred in the front and back. The fracture also showed signs of having tried to heal and being re-injured over the six weeks between the initial injury and its discovery.

"I didn't show any signs of having a break," Michael said. "The doctors here hadn't seen a break like it without paralysis or death."

Michael was sent to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane for a re-evaluation of the diagnosis and to consult specialists on how best to repair the damage that had been done to Michael's neck.

Two choices were presented after the initial diagnosis was confirmed — a halo or bone fusion. A halo is a vest-like traction brace that is screwed into a patient's head to relieve pressure on a neck injury. Tucker chose bone fusion.

"They took some bone from my hip," Michael said with nonchalance. "It wasn't that bad."

With his fusion complete, Michael was fitted for a neck brace that he will have to wear for another two to three months while his neck is healing.

Part of the healing process includes not being able to drive for another month, and with rehab the neck brace can be removed for good.

"Even after that, they want me to take it easy for a while," Michael said. "Then I'll have rehab to regain my range of motion."

In Michael's opinion, the toughest thing about his injury has been the restriction of his activity.

"It's tough not to do stuff," he said.

In fact, the day Michael was release from Sacred Heart he was out on the field for senior night, his final night as a football player for Moses Lake, at Lions Field against Kennewick.

In a show of support and welcome, his team donned his number, 2, and initials on game tape, helmets and anywhere else they could.

"Everyone has been really supportive," Michael said. "Especially the team."

Michael's friends have been chauferring him to school and anywhere else he needs to go since his injury, especially two of Michael's closest friends, Chris King and Dustin Ghoreishi.

"We called ourselves the 'Trinity,'" Michael said with a sheepish grin. "We always said that the team just needed the 'Trinity' to get it done on defense."

Now, with the season concluded, Michael is looking forward to graduation, spending time with his friends and going on his mission for the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Michael is currently a Running Start student so, along with his high school diploma, he'll have an associate degree as well.

"This summer I'll get a job," Michael said. "Then next fall I'll probably go on my mission."

Michael said his only hope for his mission was that he get the opportunity to go somewhere outside the United States.

"I'll probably go to dental school at UW when I get back," he said.

Despite the Chiefs' season being over, Michael is still watching football and still pulling for his picks in the college and professional ranks.

"I would love to see Texas kill USC in the Rose Bowl but I would've preferred Virginia Tech," he said. "Now I'm pulling for Miami. They have, by far, the best defense in college football," he said in light of Virginia Tech's loss.

As for the Super Bowl, Michael is a Seahawks fan. "I'm still hoping for the Seahawks," he said. "Shaun Alexander is tearin' it up. He's on track for a 2,000-yard season."

When asked if he could do anything, Michael's answer is firm.

"I'd somehow build a time machine and play our first four games over. I'd give us another shot at those teams the way we're playing now."

It is that dedication to his team and his teammates that has earned him numerous friends and a boatload of respect from those who know him.

"He's an ornery, smart football player. A pleasure to have on the team," said Kittrell. "He's a great kid. I could go on and on about him. He's been hard to hold back — it's hard on a coach and good for a coach. He just wants to play."

Michael has become a question-answering professional in light of his injury.

"Someone asked me the other day, if I'd go back and play the season over again, knowing I was going to get injured," he mused.

With a glint in his eye, Michael grinned and said, "I would gladly do it again. In a heartbeat."