For 30 frightening and unnerving minutes, Deerfield’s Sam Modro lay on the 37-yard line near the Warriors sideline at Highland Park’s Wolters Field.
After sustaining a helmet-on-helmet collision on a sweep play to the left flat Sept. 27, the Deerfield running back was bottled up by the Highland Park defense, lost in a pile. When the blockers and defenders scattered, Modro was left on the ground — stiff, motionless and powerless.
“I got hit in the head,” recalled Modro, who was taken off the field by an ambulance. “I was scared, I didn’t know what it was and there were a lot of people around me.”
As the ambulance drove off the field, Modro’s teammates partook in a touching moment. They huddled together at the back of the ambulance, supporting their teammate and “brother,” as fellow running back Alex Williams called him. Williams added that initially, he thought Modro might even be paralyzed.
“Sam’s like a brother to me,” he said. “I didn’t know what was wrong. I was concerned for him. I actually started to break down, but I knew Sam’s a strong kid, he’d fight through it.”
“It’s the sh–ty part of the game,” Deerfield coach Steve Winiecki said of the injury. “But the great thing about the game is how people rally around each other, and on that night, kids were going to the emergency room, people were calling.”
Just one week later, Modro looks good as new.
Modro didn’t play during the Warriors’ 44-7 loss to Glenbrook North Friday night, but he roamed the sidelines, encouraging his teammates and running around like nothing had ever happened.
“I feel better now,” an encouraged Modro said simply.
“Sam has shown a lot of guts,” Winiecki added. “He showed up the next day. He wasn’t supposed to be here, but he showed up to show us that everything was OK. The important thing now is that Sam’s OK.”
Williams acknowledged that the Warriors (1-5, 0-2 CSL North) missed their star running back on Friday night, when they put up just seven points in a 37-point blowout, but he remained confident about Modro’s status for next week.
“He’ll be back next week,” Williams said. “I’m pretty sure.”
“I’m taking it day-by-day,” Modro explained. “The trainers have just been putting me through whatever they need me to do. The trainers have a plan for me and I’ve been sticking to that plan. Hopefully, the future holds more football.”
