BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Elder High quarterback Matt Glacken has recovered from a serious injury that nearly robbed him of the ability to throw a football.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
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Last Friday. Dunham Recreation Complex in Price Hill.
The Elder High School football team is in the middle of conditioning workout that includes a run-through of some plays.
Eleven-on-eleven. No pads, no contact, but full-speed.
Elder coach Doug Ramsey turns to Matt Glacken to give him the play. "Arrow," he says, calling the 15-yard comeback route that requires a throw from the quarterback with zip on the ball.
"Can you do it?" Ramsey asks.
Ten months ago, Glacken was told he would never throw a football again after suffering a massive shoulder-muscle injury againstarchrival Moeller. Within weeks, he also had his car totaled by an uninsured motorist, and his family's home was gutted by fire. (Story, Nov. 27, 1997)
But now he nods his head, and he executes the play perfectly.
"That'll give me something to go on this weekend," he says, smiling. "That's the first time I threw that pass this year. I had some juice on it."
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MATT'S MILESTONES
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Sept. 26, 1997: Severely injures shoulder in Moeller game. Oct. 3, 1997: Uninsured motorist totals Matt's car.
Oct. 7, 1997: Doctor reviews MRI, calls injury "career-ending."
Oct. 8, 1997: Family finds Reds orthopedist Tim Kremchek
Oct. 30, 1997: Dr. Kremchek reattaches rotator cuff muscle.
Oct. 31, 1997: Rehab starts.
Nov. 10, 1997: Glacken family home in Dent gutted by fire.
Early February: Matt hits off new batting machine at rehab.
Early April: Dr. Kremchek tells Elder coach Doug Ramsey that Matt will be "OK" for two-a-days in August.
May 18: Throws for first time since surgery.
July 15: Completes first six passes on opening night of Wednesday passing league at Princeton High.
July 25: Throws several touchdown passes at citywide passing tournament at Nippert Stadium.
Friday: Throws crisply in conditioning workout.
Today: Matt "good to go" as two-a-days begin.
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Full-scale football practice in pads begins today for Cincinnati high schools, including Elder and Moeller and the other powerhouses of the Greater Catholic League. There are a lot of good prep angles in Southwest Ohio this year -- but perhaps none better than the angle in Glacken's left arm when he raises it to throw.
Ten months ago, after undergoing an MRI on his shoulder, Glacken's football career was given up for dead.
He had been cut down just as he was starting to spread his wings. He had helped lead Elder to a 4-0 start in his junior year, his first year as a starter, and was one of the leading passers in the city.
When the injury occurred, Elder was leading Moeller, 17-10, and was driving for another score. Glacken had already thrown for 296 yards against Moeller . . . and it wasn't even the fourth quarter yet. That's when Moeller linebacker Steve Niehaus, all 6 feet 2 inches and 235 pounds of him, hit Glacken from the blind side.
The hit came just before Glacken had released the ball and his protective shoulder pad had flipped up and not come back down. His shoulder was driven into the turf. The ground was wet, and Glacken bounced two or three times with the weight of the linebacker atop him.
"I could literally feel stuff inside my shoulder getting pulled away from the bone," Glacken said.
Dr. Tim Kremchek
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"It's the worst tear of the rotator cuff muscle I've ever seen in a throwing athlete," said Dr. Tim Kremchek, the Reds orthopedist, who, despite the severity of the injury, did not agree with the previous doctor's "career-ending" diagnosis.
In a four-hour operation, Dr. Kremchek cleaned out the pieces of cartilage from the injury, drilled three holes into Glacken's shoulder, then screwed-and-sutured the rotator-cuff muscle snugly to the bone. To make certain the shoulder fit together properly, Dr. Kremchek lifted Glacken's arm and approximated a throwing motion, one of the most strenuous moves for a shoulder to make.
Was there any doubt in Dr. Kremchek's mind that Glacken would be able to resume his quarterback career and continue to interest college recruiters?
"There's always doubt when you're dealing with a throwing athlete trying to return to a high level of performance," Dr. Kremchek said. "But seeing how hard Matt was willing to work on his rehabilitation every day with a therapist, knowing the goals he had and seeing how badly he wanted to get back to that level, the doubt grew less and less as the days went by."
For 6 1/2 months, Glacken was not allowed to throw a football. For most of that time, he could not have thrown, even if he wanted to.
"Six months ago (which was four months after he'd been operated on), if you had asked me, "Are you going to be able to play the first game?,' I'd have said, "There's no way in hell,' " Glacken said.
Early in Glacken's three-times-a-week rehab visits, therapist Sara Doeren would raise his left arm as far as he could tolerate -- and raise it a little more. It was several weeks before Glacken was able to leave therapy without a tremendous headache, because of the effect on his neck.
At home, he'd lie in bed with a 5-pound weight in his left hand, extend his arm and then rotate his wrist as far as he could for 45 minutes. At first, he could barely rotate his wrist. Even when he gradually was able to rotate his wrist fully and without pain, he'd wonder, "What good is this doing me? Why am I bothering? I may not even be able to throw again."
But he continued, buoyed by his belief in Dr. Kremchek and the therapists at the Beacon Orthopaedics rehab facility in Evendale -- especially 24-year-old Lonnie Soloff, who offered plenty of encouragement and heart-to-heart talks.
"As a therapist, you tell the athlete, "If you do A and B, then C will come,' " Soloff said. "In other words, do the strengthening and (build up) the range of motion and the throwing will come. But I could see we were approaching the point that Matt felt I was making him empty promises. It was starting to wear on him."
Then came a clear, crisp spring day in late May.
Glacken brought his football with him to rehab. He had a doctor's appointment that day and was hopeful Dr. Kremchek might clear him to throw, which he did.
At Beacon, Glacken and Soloff walked onto the artificial surface of the training field of the Silverbacks indoor soccer team.
They took their positions, about 12 yards apart.
"I didn't know what to expect," Glacken said. "I hadn't once cheated on my rehab by sneaking in a throw or two. So I didn't know anything about how my arm would respond. Would I be able to throw a spiral? That was my biggest concern. Am I going to be able to throw a spiral?' Then, if I got past that, would I be able to lead a guy?"
Soloff cupped his hands in a triangular position, giving Glacken a target. Matt raised his arm above and behind his ear in a nice, high throwing position, even higher than the one he had before the surgery.
He let the ball fly.
A perfect spiral that hit his target right in the hands.
"Thank God, I didn't drop it," Soloff said later with a smile.
From the sidelines, Glacken's father, Terry, watched.
"I was more nervous that day than I'd been in a long time," Terry recalled. "It was like watching your child be born. The baby comes out and everything's OK. I loosened up after that first pass."
"It was a pretty overwhelming feeling," Matt remembered. "Until I made that first pass, I didn't know if I'd ever be able to play again. But, after throwing that pass, I knew I'd play again."
Matt threw several passes to his dad that day.
"I couldn't resist," said Matt's dad.
When Terry Glacken, the father of seven children, walked out of the rehab facility that day, he immediately noticed what a beautiful spring day was in progress.
"I don't think I stopped smiling that entire day," he said.
Matt Glacken drives a '69 Camaro now.
Soon, the family will move into their home in Miami Heights.
A lot of well-wishers will be at Elder's opening game against Fairfield at Nippert Stadium next month, including Dr. Kremchek, Soloff and most of the rehab staff at Beacon Orthopaedics. The Glacken family has been transformed by the experience.
Much is riding on Matt's Glacken's shoulders.
If he stopped to think about it, he'd be overwhelmed. Instead, he has embraced the opportunity, becoming even more of a people person and graciously accepting people's good wishes for the season.
He knows how much his well-being means to his family, his school, the football team and to Dr. Kremchek and the rehab staff, who had such faith in him.
"With every downfall, we've been lifted right back up again," said Matt's mother, Ann. "We're higher than the clouds right now."
