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Franchuk: Staffieri fighting crazy injury |
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JaredCowley | Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 11:17 pm
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Jason Franchuk
DAILY HERALD
It takes a little bit of crazy to be a linebacker. So Markell Staffieri fits right in.
Let us count the ways:
1. He had the nerve one time to ask out the quarterback’s sister. To John Beck’s surprise, he asked her out more than once and eventually for her hand in marriage.
2. During BYU football’s bye week, he went hunting with his future brother-in-law and father-in-law. That means he better treat the eventual Mrs. Anna (Nov. 28) extra wonderfully, if he’s going to hang around gun-wielding relatives while in isolation.
3. Have we mentioned this guy has forced the team’s medical staff to smuggle in smokeless tobacco for him?
More on that zany little tidbit later.
It’s time to talk about that hamstring of his, which has limited Staffieri’s effectiveness and made the season tougher than he ever anticipated.
That he’s able to play on a slowly healing leg is the craziest thing of all.
The Cougars are 5-2, winners of four in a row and the only undefeated team in the Mountain West Conference. That’s helped the junior’s outlook, but it hasn’t totally freed him of pain from a serious injury he suffered during August practices.
He leaped over a pile at practice. A teammate rolled up on him. This was no ordinary muscle pull, not something that a weekend warrior can relate to.
Trainer Kevin Morris uses the word “traumatic” when explaining how a person would describe the extent of the injury.
“Markell had a liter of blood in his hamstring, it was very serious,” Morris said. “I watched the film of it after it happened, and it was unusual because he immediately couldn’t put any weight on it.”
Somehow, Staffieri has played in six games and racked up 12 tackles. Morris said he’s constantly evaluating him, making sure through various tests and other measures that he’s not endangering himself further while on the field.
Staffieri wants to be nowhere else. He’ll do anything to play, evidenced by the roughly two hours of therapy he does every day.
He sits in freezing tubs. He receives more massages than a Las Vegas high-roller. He tried a knee brace to improve his gait, but that had to be stopped because he started having lower leg problems.
Morris hoped for a 4-to-6 week healing time. But a month came by and there wasn’t much progress. He made calls to trainer friends and rarely came by anyone who had witnessed Staffieri’s predicament.
The ones from the NFL who did said 12 weeks easy.
It’s going on three months now, what head coach Bronco Mendenhall recently called a “source of frustration” for everyone involved. Morris hoped the muscle would be aided by Staffieri’s work ethic — “he’ll do anything you ask him to” — but that optimism had to be shackled.
“If anyone called and described someone who had that injury, I’d have to tell them it would be 12 weeks,” Morris said. “There’s just not much else you can do but let it heal at its pace.”
Back to that tobacco tale.
Staffieri was surprised to find out that a poultice made of it can be used to reduce bruising. Mixed with water and heat, the chemical properties work an amazing magic to draw blood out when applied topically. Morris is a Red Man guy.
“You get some weird looks when you’re in your BYU gear, going to get tobacco,” Morris said, laughing. “It’s used on horses and other animals, but let me tell you, it works.”
So Staffieri has found out. He’s getting close to normal now, though he still has a slight limp. He won’t be 100 percent by Thanksgiving, but what football player is?
As long as he’s at middle linebacker, and not bench warmer, it’s fine. He has to watch himself, though, and not let emotions get the best of him. Players charge the field before the game, Staffieri jogs.
He longs for the day when tightness doesn’t get in the way.
“I guess I just wish I could run out there, and not worry about anything,” he said.
Now, that would be smokin’.
Jason Franchuk can be reached at
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