Former Revere football player eyes new career after back injury

by Sheldon Ocker

Conor Head lived the dream as a high school kid at Revere: star offensive lineman on the football team, grade point average well above 3.0, member of the Revere High Leadership Council, school record holder in the shot put and recipient of a prized athletic scholarship from Division I University of Toledo.

About that last item, a Division I scholarship to play football. Revere is not known as a hotbed of Division I athletes. College football recruiters don’t expect to visit Revere, put on a blindfold and fill their teams with student-athletes by throwing darts at the roster.

Moreover, Toledo’s football program is far above the norm in the Mid-American Conference. Since 2001, the Rockets have been MAC champs four times and have won the Western Division Crown more often than any of their rivals.

So it was a big deal for Head to win a scholarship to Toledo.

But it didn’t take long for Head to struggle with injuries. His back started to hurt when he was a freshman. It got so bad that he required two surgical procedures the next year. They were successful, but only to a point. After his sophomore season he was told, “You are medically disqualified from playing football.” Forever.

“If I had to describe that day, I’d probably say it was the worst day of my life,” Head said. “I felt alone. For 18 years I had this dream, and it ended on terms that were not my own.”

Like many athletes, pro and collegiate, Head decided that if he didn’t tell anyone he was injured, he could play through it and eventually the pain would disappear.

“At first it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “I went about five months under the radar as a freshman. I didn’t bring it up to them. But it got to the point where I couldn’t hide it anymore. It was starting to get a little weird. It got to where I couldn’t feel the toes on my left foot. Someone had to help me put on my socks.”

Head’s mother suspected something was seriously wrong.

“My mom was worried before it got to that point,” he said. “I get a ridiculous amount of love from my parents. My mom was crushed. My dad doesn’t usually get really emotional, but it hurt him.”

For a while, Head refused to accept the dire diagnosis. He thought he could salvage his football career by committing himself to life in the gym.

“Even though I wasn’t near 100%, I would do my rehab and sit in on position meetings, just so I would have someone to talk to,” Head said. “At the end, everyone thought it was too much of a risk.”

He had no scarcity of medical opinions. Head underwent testing at ProMedica Hospital in Toledo and did both surgeries on the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic.

“I was making lots of trips there,” said Head, who added that he was given 13 injections before he underwent the first surgery.

Even with football in the rear-view mirror, Head has issues with his back. “Oh yeah, they said it probably never will be healed,” he said.

Some amateur philosophers say that when one of life’s doors closes another opens. Head wasn’t so sure.

But Toledo did him a favor by allowing him to stay on scholarship until he graduated, even though he could no longer play football. And when he was a junior, Head was asked to replace a graduate assistant who was leaving the football program.

“I was always good at school, but I always wanted to play football,” he said. “I had all my eggs in one basket. That was another thing that piled on – what am I going to do now?”

Head became a grad assistant, a part-time coach, poring over videos, inputting scouting reports, working with young offensive linemen, evaluating high school players via film, talking with their families.

That position has evolved into a full-time assistant coaching job, focusing on recruiting and the offense.

“Just coming in every day and learning from the coaches, I’m starting to love it,” Head said, “even though at first it was tough watching guys I came in with play and practice.”

So that second door has opened a crack, and Head has not been afraid to look inside. ∞

Photo: Lori Head meets with her son, Conor, on the University of Toledo football field. Photo submitted.