Kayla Jackson
Pines
Traverse City Central HS
1st Place
Division 2, Yearbook
Personality Profile
The quarterback throws the ball, Josiah Lopez-Wild ’14 goes in for the tackle, fighting for the win. Instantly the play goes wrong and leaves Lopez-Wild broken again.
Lopez-Wild’s injuries started his freshman year and have affected him all throughout his high school career. “I had two concussions, a broken right shoulder, and a torn ACL,” Lopez- Wild said. “I got my first concussion in practice and I got hit when I wasn’t looking. My shoulder broke in a game freshman year and I got my second concussion junior year at the Homecoming game. I tore my ACL in the Homecoming game this year.”
Playing for three years with a broken shoulder took its toll on Lopez-Wild. “For concussions you have to wait about a week before playing again because you don’t want to risk getting hit in the head again,” Lopez- Wild said. “I played an entire season with my shoulder broken. I wore a strap that held it down. It was really difficult because I played defense and so when I went to tackle I couldn’t get my arm out far enough. I tried not to let it affect me that much.”
Lopez- Wild’s most recent injury, a torn ACL, prevented him from playing his final season of football. “At first I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Lopez-Wild said. “I landed and I felt it pop but finished the tackle. I started to walk back to the huddle and felt my knee kind of give out and it felt week. They took me back to the locker room and I had to get it checked out.”
Due to Lopez-Wild’s setbacks he underwent multiple surgeries. “I didn’t actually get my shoulder checked out till my junior year,” Lopez- Wild said. “I underwent a surgery for my right shoulder, and they were working on my muscles because I’d torn a few muscles in my back. Then I got a complete ACL reconstruction.”
Having continuous support from his teammates, Lopez- Wild was on a fast track for recovery. “I guess just being on the team helped me to recover faster,” Lopez- Wild said. “When you are on a team with a lot of the same guys for such a long time, you form bonds with them. I want to help them and they want to help me because we know we all play an important role on the team.”
Despite not being able to play, Lopez-Wild returned the support his team provided for him throughout the season. “I was team captain,” Lopez-Wild said. “It was my job, I am supposed to be there. It’s not so much that I have to be there, but I want to be there. I think it helped the defense especially and the younger guys a ton. They really worried when I wasn’t there. It is always kind of hard to have one of your players go down and so I tried to stick around and be as much of a leader as possible.”
Lopez-Wild felt that if he had the chance to relive his years of football he wouldn’t change what happened to him. “I suppose if I had the chance to go back, I’d try to be more conscious of how I landed on my knee during the game I tore my ACL,” Lopez-Wild said. “Football is a rough sport and I appreciate what sports I have done throughout my high school career.”
Having endured these emotional events, Lopez-Wild has kept positive and let his love of the game propel him forward.
“Football is by far my favorite sport. It was hard on me and my team, but these experiences made me respect the game and how short it is. I just wanted to do everything I could for my team.”