2010 Game 6 vs Clarke County

We were all excited to hear this past week that Austin Collins was about to get his long awaited heart transplant.  We are thankful that such a procedure is possible and that as of my writing this all appears to be well.  Having been through heart surgery myself at age 50 I have some idea about some of the challenges but I also recognize that a heart transplant is also completely different.  But Austin has been equipped with what a person would need to successfully have such a procedure at his age.  First of all he has great patience, certainly an area that many of us could stand some improvement in.  Imagine the patience it took to wait for 6 months for a heart.  Austin also has coolness under pressure. He demonstrated that many times in football.  A center has  to know the snap count and snap the ball at just the right moment while executing a block upon an opponent right on top of you. And usually that opponent is one of the other teams best players.  He certainly had to be cool and depend on his doctors to do their job.  One of Austin's greatest assets was his great courage.  As a center, he many times took on defenders much bigger than himself but never backed off.  I remember when he was a sophomore he wasn't very strong and he would get knocked around some at practice.  But he always had the courage to stick his nose in there even when he realized he would probably get whipped.  When you survive that it allows you to build confidence in yourself which is really important in football. And I would think that courage and confidence would be vital to a successful heart transplant.

There is pain involved in football, especially for offensive linemen.  I could not estimate how many times Austin has had his hands mashed, his fingers crushed and his knees bruised and battered.  He has had people fall on him many, many times and I can remember seeing him be the last to get up when there was a pile of humanity.  It is the nature of the game for an offensive center.  Their body never feels real good once practice starts.  But they just kind of get use to it.  Pain is a lesson we learn in football and Austin has seen his share. And because he has been through it, he would not run from it.  He would take in on and deal with it just as he did after many games and practices. The ability to withstand pain is important part of recovery from such a surgery.

No matter how bad it got....the pain, the losses, the tough practices... Austin always was a survivor because he never felt sorry for himself.  Having had heart surgery I can assure you if you start to feel sorry for yourself, life can get tough.  We have a sign in the fieldhouse that says this...No one at T.R. Miller feels sorry for you.  Self pity is self destruction.  And it is true.  But I believe that even in his toughest times and there will be some tough times in the future, Austin will never feel sorry for himself. If he does allow such a thought to enter his mind, it will disappear quickly knowing that he has another play to run, another block to make.  Another day to live.

I am not a physician, but like everyone else I have an opinion.  There has been much discussion about what caused Austin's heart condition and everyone from family to friends to medical professionals have rendered their diagnosis.  Being a football guy I will refer back to my training.  Austin is a classic example of a young man who literally "played his heart out."  He gave so much of it away to family and friends and teammates and the game of football which he loved.  I think there just wasn't much left.  It is my hope and prayer that this heart will last Austin a lifetime and that lifetime will be filled with happiness.  And that he will do much good and that he will find something to do that he loved as much as football and that he will put this whole heart into it and be a great example to many others as he has already been. An example of patience and coolness under pressure....an example of courage and self confidence and refusal of self pity.

It was my great honor to have coached Austin Collins.

It is late now and I need to go to sleep. Because tomorrow I must get up and go to practice again. Because somewhere in the ninth or tenth grade there is another Austin Collins.... I am sure of it but I just don't know which one he is.  But I am still looking for him every day and I will find him.  And one day I will tell him about the blonde headed center I once had who played his heart out for T.R. Miller.