Silver Linings Abound for Newsome after Near Amputation of Leg
8/24/2017 10:29:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Grant Newsome was dominating as an offensive left tackle for the University of Michigan football team last season until that fateful play occurred and he was seriously injured. He told me recently that there's no way of knowing how much or how little ability he'll regain after fully rehabilitating his right knee, adding that he's "95-percent" sure he'll redshirt this season.
What he does know is that he's counting his blessings. Newsome was injured Oct. 1 after pulling on a run play around the left end and having his legs taken out by diving Wisconsin cornerback Derrick Tindal. Newsome decided to stay upright to better seal the block for tailback De'Veon Smith, but said his cleat caught in the ground upon contact, "and so the entire force of his body went right through my leg." His knee turned so grotesquely and powerfully that it cut off blood circulation in the leg and nearly forced it to be amputated.
What he also knows is that he wasn't sure if he'd ever walk again, run again or play football again. And Newsome, 6-foot-7 and 318 pounds, has now done all of those except return to the playing field.
"I won't know what I can do until I go out and do it," said Newsome. "But from the starting point where we were, when we weren't sure if I was going to have a leg, to not sure I was going to walk, to not sure if I was going to lift, to not sure if I was going to be able to run ... just the way it's progressed, I'm really, really pleased. The doctors and (head trainer) Dave (Granito) are pleased. The stability my knee has now shown make them really, really optimistic."
Through it all, Newsome stayed on task academically despite spending 38 days in the University of Michigan Hospital, and dropped only one class. He was Skyping into classes, worked closely with instructors and ended up a 2016 Academic All-Big Ten pick as well as winning the Arthur D. Robinson Scholarship Award as the football program's top student-athlete. He also could've been headed to All-Big Ten honors as a player after being named the team's offensive lineman of the game against both UCF and Penn State.
Newsome kept his chin up and his nose to the proverbial grindstone, never griping.
Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, who backpacked in Ireland with Newsome and other teammates after the team trip and practices in Rome last spring, has become a huge fan.
"It's amazing to see him in there every day just putting in so much time to try to come back," said Hurst, "and not only to walk and run. He wants to play football again, and that's so much more motivation for me. Sometimes, you take the game for granted.
"He's not going to be privileged to play this year, but he's working his butt off to get back into that role. It's so inspirational. On a day when you're sore, and not really feeling it, you just think of Grant. He's working hard just to get on the field, and you're complaining?"
The grueling rehab continues for @grant_newsome. A lesser man would have thrown in the towel many moons ago. pic.twitter.com/CDDQfR4DrL
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) August 22, 2017
Offensive lineman Mason Cole, also part of the group of Wolverines who visited Ireland, added: "Seeing his injury and the struggles he's going through and the time in the hospital is just unbelievable. He has a great attitude, and comes in every single day willing to do whatever it takes to get back on the field faster.
"He was at the highest of highs one moment, and then at the lowest of lows the next moment. But he was just level-headed the whole time and so determined to get back on the field. Anyone can look at that and learn from that."
Newsome credited his parents, Kim and Leon, as great examples in how to live life. He said he refused to leave the field after his injury in a golf cart in large part because he didn't want his parents to worry, knowing "my mom would lose it." Â
He simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled when the words of his teammates were relayed.
"I don't necessarily think I've had to work harder than anyone else on the team," said Newsome. "We all have jobs, and my job has just shifted to work hard to rehab and get back on the field as soon as possible to help the team win some more games.
"Obviously, what happened was unfortunate. But there are tons of people out there who have it way worse than I do. I can still run and can still come back and play football. You look at someone like Larry Prout (Jr.), who had his 100th surgery, and he's only 16 years old. And yet he's the most upbeat and happy kid you'll ever meet. If anyone had a right to be sad and complain, it would be him.
"And there are kids who have cancer. I think it's important that whenever you have a hardship to maybe be upset and realize it was unfortunate. But there's always someone out there who has it worse and makes your situation seem miniscule."
Newsome and Coach Jim Harbaugh's entire Wolverine football family have adopted Prout, who lives in nearby Howell. He was born with spina bifida, choacal extrophy, massive omphalocele, short gut syndrome and several other illnesses that have required him to average one surgery in every other month since his birth. Newsome loves spending time at and away from the hospital with Larry, and has taken him bowling and to other activities.
His spirit, accomplishment and ability to triumph in so many ways led to Newsome winning the Robert P. Ufer Bequest, awarded annually to the Wolverine gridder showing the most love and enthusiasm for Michigan.
Newsome, Prout and quarterback John O'Korn pose for a selfie // Newsome pushes Prout through a hospital corridor
Newsome finds the silver linings in life's clouds.
"Everyone out there is carrying some burden," said Newsome, who is from McLean, Virginia, and attended the prestigious The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.
"I think I've had it pretty easy even though I had to go through some burden there, and I'm trying to get out of that. But all things considered, I got off pretty scot-free, considering how bad it could've been and how bad some other people have it."
How bad could it have been for him?
It took Newsome several hours after the injury occurred to realize the terrifying fate that could await him.
"I went off the playing field after the injury and got into the trainer's room," he said. "There was so much swelling in the knee that they couldn't tell if it was just a normal ligament tear.
"I felt a pop in my knee when I rolled over onto it on the field. That's why I thought it was a tear. But I didn't really feel that much right after it because I think I went into shock. All I felt was a little stinging and numbness, but no intense pain."
He said it was "lucky" that the team doctors sent him to the hospital at about 6 that evening because time was of the essence.
"I went into surgery at about 9:45," said Newsome, "and I went into surgery with them saying, 'We're going to try to save the leg.' "
That was a chilling sentence to digest.
"I didn't know what to think when I heard that," said Newsome, "and then I was out, under for six hours during the surgeries.
"I had some issues with blood flow, and the blood wasn't getting to the bone in my leg. From my knee and all the way down, the leg wasn't getting any blood."
It turned out that the knee was dislocated with no ligament tears or cracked bones.
"But the knee dislocation caused all the complications," said Newsome. "I just started running (in early July), and I ran a mile and a half today on the treadmill."
He had to rebuild the leg from the atrophy that set in during the long hospital stay required by his six surgeries.
"I didn't start standing until I was about three weeks out of the hospital," Newsome said of that time around Thanksgiving. "I had been in a wheelchair, and it took me about two months to learn to walk again. I used a walker and crutches during that time. It took nearly four months to be able to walk places."
By then it was February, and setting a recovery time frame was difficult because he was in pretty much uncharted waters.
"None of the doctors had ever seen a case exactly like mine," said Newsome. "Then they sent my case to some NFL trainers and doctors, and none of them had seen a knee dislocation with the injuries I had."
But he persevered and ran on a football field for the first time.
"That was amazing," Newsome said of returning to his natural environment. "But the highlight for me in this whole process was, one, getting out of the hospital, and the second was taking my first steps. They hadn't been sure if I was going to walk again and might have to use a cane my whole life.
"This was huge, running again. I got the range of motion and strength back, and running has been great!"
Newsome, who is still building up strength, has at least two years of eligibility remaining.
He recalled wide receiver Jehu Chesson encouraging him while he laid on the field after being injured.
"Get up!" he remembered Chesson shouting.
Newsome responded: "I'm trying."
He rolled over and felt the knee re-locate, fearing that the pop he heard was the ACL tearing. Getting up was another matter, though. He's been in that process for over 10 months now.
Newsome said, "There were certainly days tougher than others and days when I wanted to give up and say, 'This just isn't worth it.' But I used the inspiration of people who fought through much worse things, like Larry. Then in the hospital, my parents said, 'You can be upset and you can be down, but in the end your leg is going to be how it is. You might as well put all your positive energy into a positive healing, and pray and hope for the best.'
"It's definitely been a roller coaster experience, but I'm definitely very fortunate and very blessed. Now I'm in that last little valley, and hopefully can continue on up until I'm back on the field."
