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O'Sullivan tackles the pain
College notebook
Date published: 9/15/2009 By Steve DeShazo BY STEVE DeSHAZO When Emory & Henry coach Don Montgomery saw Evin O'Sullivan writhing in pain a year ago, he knew his star senior linebacker faced some long odds. The Colonial Forge High School graduate had suffered a broken and dislocated ankle--the same injury Montgomery's son, Joey, once suffered at Mount Union, Ohio. Even after the Wasps' team doctor treated the injury, O'Sullivan wasn't ready to call it a season. "After I screamed, I calmly said, 'Tape it up, and I'll play,'" O'Sullivan said yesterday. "The doctor looked at me and said, 'You can't just tape this up.' I tried to put pressure on it, and it was the worst pain I ever felt." So O'Sullivan underwent surgery wherein 10 screws and a 6-inch metal plate were inserted into his ankle. After months of tireless rehab, he received a medical redshirt from the NCAA and is back--perhaps better than ever. In Saturday's 31-14 victory over Greensboro College, O'Sullivan returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown and a fumble 2 yards for another score just two plays later. He also made a game-high 12 tackles and earned Old Dominion Athletic Conference defensive player of the week honors. "It was surreal," O'Sullivan said. It's an experience I'll remember all my life." O'Sullivan has been overcoming odds for a while. Undersize at 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, he led the ODAC with 136 tackles in 2007 and was named a Division III preseason All-American this fall, despite missing last season. "He hardly ever gets blocked," Montgomery said. "People try to run at him, around him and away from him, and he always seems to manage to make the tackle. He's almost acrobatic out there. It's almost comical to watch, the way he throws around bigger guys." O'Sullivan let his hair grow into a mane this summer and earned a new nickname from Montgomery: Braveheart, after the Mel Gibson film. "He's a coach's kind of player," Montgomery said. "You never have to worry about where his head is at. He plays fearlessly and relentlessly."
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Date published: 9/15/2009
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