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PROVO — He could go down as the most controversial quarterback in BYU football history. One who drew criticism from fans and the media alike. Whose play one could argue was a major factor in the firing of the school’s offensive coaching staff. And in the end it wasn’t entirely his fault.
Even healthy, he wasn’t the most talented. He couldn’t throw the ball well. And he would regularly take chances and risks that resulted in needless turnovers. However, Riley Nelson did what most college players would do when given the opportunity — he relentlessly competed and gave it his all. And he was broken — literally.
In the second game of the season against Weber State, Nelson broke his back. In fact, he suffered fractures in three vertebras. “Those type of fractures to your vertebrae you see a lot in high-impact car crashes, ski wrecks, things like that,” Nelson said on the radio show I co-host, Gunther and Graham on 1320 KFAN. “They’re not very common in football. From there on it was kind of a, you know, like, can you tolerate the pain and how inhibitive are you.”
Those type of fractures to your vertebrae you see a lot in high-impact car crashes, ski wrecks, things like that. They're not very common in football. From there on it was kind of a, you know, like, can you tolerate the pain and how inhibitive are you.
–Riley Nelson about his back injury on Gunther and Graham
He wasn’t inhibitive enough to not play against BYU’s archrival Utah the following week — a game he rallied his team within a missed field goal of winning. But he clearly was suffering.
“It was a lot,” Nelson said. “The fractures were unstable in the University of Utah game meaning I could feel them grinding and shifting and moving in my back. … at halftime … there were moments where it was kind of hard to keep your mind focused, to keep your hand from shaking, but, you know it was great to have an opportunity to go out there and battle. … it was my senior year to play Utah at Utah — there was no way I was going to bow out or throw in the towel and my coaches were gracious enough to let me go ahead and compete.”
Despite the injury, Nelson lobbied and came to an agreement with head coach Bronco Mendenhall and then-offensive coordinator Brandon Doman.
“The deal I worked with the coaches was give me the opportunity to practice and if you determine my level of play to be high enough to make us competitive then let me play,” Nelson said. “And if not, then don’t play me and I would respect your decision.”
Apparently in the eyes of the coaches, he was fine to play late into the season. But after the San Jose State loss in which Nelson suffered torn rib cartilage, Mendenhall decided to put him on the bench for the next game against New Mexico State and again for the Poinsettia Bowl. But at that point, it was too late. BYU had suffered five losses.
And that is the biggest question from last season — why the coaches continued to trot out Nelson as the starting quarterback when he clearly wasn’t healthy? Even Nelson realized he was limited.
“I could tolerate the pain, but you know, going back and watching the film and comparing it to Washington State, which is really the only game I played healthy — the agility definitely wasn’t there, the drive,” Nelson said. “Throwing the football is a lot of rotation in your core and that is right where the fractures were and that’s where my strength was compromised. I probably wasn’t at the same level.”
Some will argue that for the betterment of the team, Nelson should have told the coaches how much pain he was experiencing but that wasn’t an option. He wasn’t going to give up something he worked so hard to attain.
“I’ve never complained and told anybody about pain,” Nelson said. “All I told them is my back was tight in that Weber State game. Last year when I had the collapsed lung versus Idaho, I didn’t tell anybody until I almost, you know, lost consciousness on the sideline or when I broke the ribs in the bowl game last year or again against San Jose State. I’m not one to tell you about my owies and boo boos. So I kind of kept that to myself. Anyone who has competed or has been an athlete, if they’re worth their weight at all, is not going to pull themselves out of a game and I’m no different.”
“I was the one that chose to go out there knowing that I wasn’t fully healthy,” Nelson added. “It’s no excuse for the poor performances, especially in that Boise State game. Just because you’re back is hurt it doesn’t mean you have to turn the ball over. What was it, four times or something like that?”
I was the one that chose to go out there knowing that I wasn't fully healthy. It's no excuse for the poor performances, especially in that Boise State game. Just because you're back is hurt it doesn't mean you have to turn the ball over. What was it, four times or something like that?
–Riley Nelson
Now Nelson will turn to coaching as he returns to his old stomping ground as offensive coordinator at Logan High School — well, at least until he gets accepted to medical school. And ironically his first choice? The University of Utah.
“It’s something I’m passionate about,” Nelson said. “You know, with all my injuries I sustained from football and growing up, you know I broke my femur skiing when I was 13, so I’m well acquainted with hospitals and surgeries and stuff like that so it seems only fitting I would turn around and make a profession out of it.”
Just too bad the BYU staff couldn’t see what pretty much everyone else could — how broken Nelson truly was.
Kevin Graham co-hosts Gunther and Graham 3pm-7pm on 1320 KFAN. He is also the founder and editor of www.SportsMashup.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KevinGrahamKFAN and like him on Facebook (SportsMashup).
