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SALT LAKE CITY — The game of football demands toughness, both mental and physical. And you won't find many players who possess more toughness than Utah defensive end Trevor Reilly.
The former walk-on played the entire 2012 season with a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in April 2012. Instead of opting for surgery and rehab, which would have cost him his junior year, he put on a brace and played with the pain.
"I don't know, man, I guess I'm stupid," he said jokingly.
Reilly was not only effective playing with the injury, but had a standout season. He was Utah's leading tackler and earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors.
"Trevor Reilly is a special guy," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "If you had to select the one guy that is a leader of this team it would have to be Trevor."
Reilly is tough, but it turns out he's not even the toughest member of his family. That honor belongs to his 10-month-old daughter Shayn.
Trevor and his wife, Jessica, received the news that no parent wants to hear: Shayn had kidney cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments, and doctors are optimistic that she will win her battle with cancer.
"She's tough, man," he said. "They think they've got most of it out, if not all of it, and the chemo should just eliminate it. By December, she should be 100 percent and ready to get on with her life."
In reality when you look at that, and look at the problems we complain about in sports, it's nothing. It literally is nothing. It makes me appreciate my family more, but not only that, it makes me appreciate football.
–Trevor Reilly
Reilly has been inspired by the fight in his second child while he underwent the challenging process of rehabbing his knee, and it's given him a different perspective.
"Every day that's on my mind," he said. "Is Shayn okay? In reality when you look at that, and look at the problems we complain about in sports, it's nothing. It literally is nothing. It makes me appreciate my family more, but not only that, it makes me appreciate football."
With his knee 100 percent and his daughter's positive prognosis, Reilly has a lot to play for this season.
"I have one more year left, man," he said. "This is not only a big year for the University of Utah, this is a big year for my family. It's a big year for me. Hopefully I can make the best of it."
After going through so much, Reilly has an even sharper focus and an urgency to make his senior year special.
"We need to win. It's not time to rebuild. We need to win right now," he said. "When you're picked to stink, that makes you think I'm going to show these guys."
If the Utes follow the example of their captain and exhibit the same type of toughness, they just might surprise some people in the Pac-12 this season.
