Eric LeGrand honored before game
Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand #52 leave the field after participating in the coin toss before a game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. (Nov. 12, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
The Rutgers and Army football programs have grown intensely close in the past year, ever since their game last season when Eric LeGrand of Rutgers was paralyzed from the neck down trying to tackle Malcolm Brown.
"They want to honor me in front of all their cadets. I want to find time to get up there," LeGrand said at Yankee Stadium Saturday, adding that Brown and other Army players have visited him and given him a jersey.
So it was no small matter before Rutgers' 27-12 win, when LeGrand went on the field in his wheelchair for the coin toss. He was given the honor of calling it in the air. "The other team calls it and for once you hope it goes their way," said Andrew Rodriguez, one of Army's captains. "He's just a tremendous person and every time you see him, it's a tremendous inspiration for how you should live your life."
Brown, who is from Bay Shore, also was part of the ceremony. "I just said, 'May the Lord bless you and have a good game -- your team.' It was a great feeling. It was kind of emotional," Brown said.
LeGrand later said he felt like grabbing his helmet and going out for the kickoff. He excitedly talked about having been in a harness on a treadmill this week, starting to retrain his nervous system. "I felt burning in my hamstrings," he said. "It was good that I could feel it."
He was typically upbeat, confident of walking again. "It was a rough year, but it was probably the best year of my life because of the people I've been able to touch," LeGrand said.
Of course, he does have a setback now and again. "I called heads," he said, "and I lost."
