Oct. 12, 2009
By Leigh Torbin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF's Darius Nall (Douglasville, Ga.) was a member of the Conference USA All-Freshman team in 2007 at defensive end. A few months later, he was happy to be alive. Now, he is a regular member of the UCF lineup once again and today was named as a candidate for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award.
During the team's summer 2008 conditioning, Nall started feeling pressure in his chest. On June 2 he brought his concerns to team athletic trainer Mary Vander Heiden. Nall underwent a series of cardiac tests and all came through negative. Finally, a CT scan was ordered for the whole chest cavity and it revealed a baseball-sized mediasteinal mass in his right chest attached to the outside of his lung. Upon consulting with an oncologist in Boston, Nall saw a thoracic surgeon in Atlanta for a surgical biopsy. The biopsy proved that the thymoma was malignant and would require immediate surgery.
Nall underwent an anterior thoracotomy on July 9 to remove the mass and was soon able to return home on oxygen. Home may be where the heart is but, like with Johnell Neal's recovery last summer from four bullet wounds, UCF is where the best medical care and your teammates are. Nall returned to campus on August 6 in time for the start of fall practice. All margins were negative after the surgery so doctors agreed that chemotherapy was not necessary, but Nall did have six weeks' worth of radiation treatment to undergo, starting on October 21.
Through the treatments, he was still on the sidelines nearly every day at practice, happy and smiling, encouraging his teammates and inspiring them through a hard season. On November 24, his radiation treatments ended and he was officially declared a cancer survivor. Nall diligently went about regaining his strength in the weight room and was ready to go full-contact as spring practice opened. He has played in each of UCF's first five games in 2009, tying for the team lead to date in pass pressures. He also shared on a tackle for loss at East Carolina.
For the fourth straight year, the Football Writers Association of America and the FedEx Orange Bowl will announce a weekly nominee each Wednesday during the season. A blue-ribbon panel will determine the winner from all of the nominees. The winner of the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award will be announced in December and be presented with the trophy.
The Courage Award was created by ESPN The Magazine's senior writer Gene Wojciechowski, also a FWAA member. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship.
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