By Scott Stump - Senior Editor
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com

     Football might be a game of inches, but Freehold senior quarterback Nick Tyson has learned that sometimes a player's fate can be determined by even smaller increments.      
     "I was centimeters away from paralysis,'' Tyson said. "Just a little further down and I might have died right on the field.''
     Tyson tells this story from the comfort of the coaches' room at Freehold, just a few minutes before preseason practice begins under brilliantly blue skies at the time of the year when football players believe anything is possible. For eight roller-coaster weeks last year, Tyson's idea of what is possible changed radically.
     "I've heard it constantly from coaches, the whole 'play every play like it's your last,' and I never really leaned on that before as much as I should have,'' Tyson said. "It's just crazy how it could all be gone in a split second.''
      The Hit
      In Week Three of last season, Tyson was playing free safety for Marlboro when Toms River North quarterback Anthony Penna fired a pass up the seam to 230-pound tight end Austin Kugler, who began barreling his way to the end zone with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
      The Mustangs were already in a deep hole on the scoreboard against a team that went on to finish undefeated when Tyson came flying up to bring Kugler to the ground. Instead, he found himself on the grass, suddenly hoping against hope.
        "Once he caught it, I made contact and my head was too low,'' Tyson said. "When it happened, I just felt a sting, and I rolled over on to my back. I knew something was bad when they came out there and eventually unscrewed my facemask off my helmet.
        "At that point I thought I was done. I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm paralyzed.' I moved my hand and my legs and that was fine, but I couldn't lift my head up. It was just dead silence at first.''
       While the crowd figured that maybe it was a stinger or that Tyson just got his bell rung, Mark Bramble, who is entering his 20th year as Marlboro's trainer, could sense that it was something worse.
       "(Tyson) looked at me and said, 'Bramble, something's not right,''' Bramble said. "He just had this look in his eyes, and I knew something was wrong.
       "I think some people on the field and in the stands thought that we were making things look worse than they were, but we were determined to do things the right way. That was a rough day.''
       Strapped to a board and taken off the field by ambulance to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, the junior quarterback/free safety soon learned that he had shattered the C5 vertebra in his neck.
       "If I had broke my C7, which is just a few centimeters down, I wouldn't be here,'' Tyson said.
       The diagnosis hit his football mentor like a punch to the stomach, as the man responsible for Tyson's fervent love for the game stood there on the Marlboro sidelines and watched it unfold. Tyson's older brother, Noel Cavanaugh, who was an assistant for the Mustangs last year, then rushed to the hospital only to be overwhelmed by the diagnosis.
       Cavanaugh played defensive back for current Lacey assistant Craig Cicardo at Mater Dei in the 1990s and went on to play at Fairleigh Dickinson. His love of football had consumed his youngest brother, who had started as a quarterback/defensive back at Marlboro since his sophomore year. Now the game threatened to smash his dreams.
       "I was crying after I realized it wasn't a little stinger,'' said Cavanaugh, who is eight years older than Tyson and is now an assistant under Mark Ciccotelli at Freehold. "I was just overcome with emotion that this game that has given me so much could potentially take away so much for him.''
       Anyone who knew Tyson and saw the scene on the field was blown away when they found out about the diagnosis.
      "At the time it happened, it didn't seem like much, but then it turned into some scary stuff,'' said former Marlboro head coach Joe Passo, who is now an assistant at Colts Neck.
       "I was driving on (Interstate) 95 with my wife on the way to a wedding after the game when (Marlboro athletic director) Dave Ryden called me and told me the news,'' Bramble said. "I had to pull over to the side of the road. I was thinking, 'What if we didn't handle it the right way?' I was shocked.''
       Even after Tyson was stabilized with a hard collar on his neck at the hospital, the drama had only just begun. The vertebra was in pieces, and each little shard could result in paralysis depending on how it healed.
      "My verterbra broke around my spine, so if anything touched (the spine), I would've had something wrong with my legs or from the neck down,'' Tyson said.
 
       What Next?
       Tyson said he went home from the hospital the next day after the accident, but he remained in a collar for the next eight weeks with his fortunes seemingly changing every other day depending on the latest diagnosis of the stability of his spine.
       "I was upset when they said I was done for the season,'' he said. "That got to me. I didn't realize it could all be over so fast. But then they started talking about it being even worse than that.''
       About two weeks after the injury, he went to see a spinal specialist, who told him that his alignment was shifting and that surgery might be the only option. A metal artificial disc would be inserted to replace the C5 vertebra, simultaneously driving a sword through the heart of Tyson's football career because it would mean the end of contact sports.
       "At that time, we just wanted good news,'' Cavanaugh said. "We didn't care about football. I told him that regardless of what happens, you still have us, you still have your family. I told him we could still play flag football or basketball, we can still have fun.''
       However, surgery was postponed and Tyson said he was on his back for a week straight with little movement before they went to see the specialist again. This time, the doctor told him his alignment was becoming more stable.
       After missing Marlboro's next two games following his injury, Tyson soon became a fixture in the press box during games while still wearing the neck collar. He also was breaking down future opponents for the scouting report on tapes provided by Passo to keep him involved.
       "He was watching film and talking about the teams we had coming up,'' Passo said. "He would break things down for us, like 'This corner is soft, that guy is weak.' I think he'll have a great year because he totally got to mentally pick the game up.''
       While he still hoped for good news, his mind wandered to what might happen if he actually received it.
       "When I was in the neck brace, it was constantly on my mind,'' Tyson said. "I was wondering what it would be like if I came back. Would I still run as hard? Would I be scared to get hit? Mentally, how would it be?"
       One week before he was scheduled to have the hard collar removed, his specialist declared his spine "acceptable.'' That meant he was cleared to play again, which was good news and bad news after nearly two months of home-schooling and time away from the football field.
       "When I heard that, it was relief and it was excitement, but then I looked at my mother and she was just petrified,'' he said. "My brother and my dad talked to her and she knew how badly I wanted to play again.''
       A difference of a few centimeters had spared him, giving him back the only thing he wanted.
       "When I was in the neckbrace, I made the statement that all I want back is my one year,'' he said. "If I can just get that last year in, I don't even have to play in college.''
       "We remained positive, and we got a miracle,'' his brother said.
       However, as many reminded him, just because the doctor said he could play didn't necessarily mean he should play.
       "I had teachers telling me I shouldn't do it,'' he said. "They said, 'We don't want you playing and having something happen again.' I just couldn't do it. I need to be running around the field.
        "My brother told me, 'Nick, if you quit, no one will hold anything against you, and everyone will understand.' Every single time I heard it, it was almost like it wasn't an option to not play.''
       When told by a reporter that, in a crude way, his return means that he is willing to die for the game, Tyson nodded.   
       
        New Town, New Team
        Toward the end of the 2007-08 school year, Tyson's family decided that they were moving to Freehold. That meant that his return to football would also coincide with fitting into an entirely new group of teammates as a senior.
        He took immediate initiative, as after each school day at Marlboro in June, he would drive over to the Colonials' weight room and lift with his future teammates in the hopes of getting to know them quickly.
       "They took me in right from the start, like I was always there,'' he said.
       "I think that takes care of itself because if you're a good person and you're a leader, it doesn't matter where you go,'' Ciccotelli said.
        His maniacal weight room work also resulted in a bulked-up frame, as he is now 6 feet tall and a solid 200 pounds.
        "He thought, 'I need to strengthen my shoulders and neck area,' so he became a weight room fanatic,'' Passo said. "He trained constantly.''
        His main training partner was his brother, who formerly was a strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level. The two of them are ultra-competitive, as Passo remembers going over their house to hang out and watch football on television only to be challenged to every game under the sun, from shuffleboard to basketball to Ping Pong. Tyson would even drop down and knock out some push-ups during commercial breaks.
        "All they do is compete,'' Passo said. "There are games all over the house.''
        While Tyson's weight room work was impressive, allowing him to "pass the eye test,'' as Ciccotelli put it, his new coach wanted to know what was beating inside his chest.
        "The first thing (Ciccotelli) said was, 'Coach, is your brother tough?' Cavanaugh said. "I said, 'You'll find out,' and I don't think he's upset anyone.''
        Feeling comfortable in the weight room is one thing, but attaining that level of comfort when it's time for some hitting in practice is another. That was Tyson's next challenge, in addition to proving to his teammates that he wasn't fragile. Mind you, this was the same player who, while lying on the grass that day at Marlboro after the fateful hit, initially asked Bramble, "Can you have me back in by the fourth quarter?''
        "I thought the hesitation was going to come in practice,'' Tyson said. "I had something to prove to myself and to the people here because no one here knew me. I was running around and making contact because it's that first contact that gets you ready to go."
        "He's a tough kid,'' said Freehold senior wideout Brandon Brown. "You're not supposed to touch the quarterback in some drills, but he wants to get hit.''
        It also didn't hurt that the Colonials graduated their starting quarterback from last year, Brian Prisk, so a spot was open. Tyson, who will not be playing on defense, also is at a program in a much different place than Marlboro, which has not won a game since 2005. Freehold is coming off a Federal Division title and a state playoff appearance, and Tyson's strong arm is perfect for a downfield weapon like Brown, one of the Shore's top returning receivers and a game-breaking player. Brown also didn't have to play out of position.
        "I didn't have to play quarterback, so I was happy about that because it was a possibility,'' Brown said. "Nick does everything we need. He has a good arm, and he's mobile. I believe in him, so I'm ready to see him throw for more than 1,000 yards this year. You see how hard he works and how much he wants it, and that makes us want to play even harder.''
        As video footage of Tyson running during one of Freehold's scrimmages flickers on the television behind him in the coaches' office, Cavanaugh can only smile when he hears about what Tyson's teammates have to say.
       "Nick runs hard,'' Cavanaugh said. "He doesn't shy away, and I think that's more of a chip on his shoulder. I think that's to show himself and everyone that, 'Hey, I beat it.'''
      
       A New Beginning
       On Saturday at 1 p.m., Tyson will resume his football career with a bang, as the Colonials open up against a loaded Middletown South team looking for revenge after a loss to Freehold last year that essentially gave the Colonials the division title. The Eagles are known for their relentless pressure defense and blitz packages, so it will be a trial by fire for Tyson. He also may not have Brown, who sat out of Freehold's last scrimmage with a boot on his ankle.
       The Eagles don't care if it's Nick Tyson, Peyton Manning or Joe Montana back there. They will be coming.
       "When I go out there it's not, 'Oh, I could die out here,''' Tyson said candidly. "I've got to make these reads, hit these plays, and make these runs. I can't hold back because these guys need me going all out. (The blitzing) doesn't faze me. It's just football.''
       "(Middletown South) will bring it, so we'll see how he does after he gets hit and what his character is from there,'' said Ciccotelli, who is a former Eagles assistant.
       While he is focused on the task at hand, that still doesn't mean that during the quiet moments, the realization of what could have been doesn't sneak out of the shadows in his mind.
       "There's days when I look over and think I could be sitting on the track in a wheelchair,'' he said. "I could be getting fed through a straw for the rest of my life. It makes you cherish everything you have.''
       "I think it's absolutely amazing that he is playing,'' Bramble said. "It's incredible.'' 
       As that national anthem plays on Saturday on the Colonials' home field, there will be some tears and lumps in throats that may stay there for a few snaps. There are surely going to be some prayers asking that Tyson makes it through unscathed.
       "It's just going to be great,'' his brother said. "It just shows the miracle that really took place, and I just feel so good for him that he didn't get his dream taken away.''
       "He was never not playing,'' Passo said. "He would've kept going to doctors until he got cleared. That kid lives for this stuff. I believe that kid can do anything.''
        Back in the coaches' room at Freehold, Tyson averts his gaze downward and betrays a hint of a smile, lost in the thoughts of his ordeal.
        "It's just a second chance,'' he said. "I'm happy to have it back. I realize I'm lucky to play this last year, and whatever happens after that, happens. I'm not going to hold anything back.''