Sidelined, but not out of sight

A daily snapshot of the people who helped Armwood reach the state final

By SCOTT PURKS
Published December 8, 2005

He said he loved to run.

He loved the feel of his legs scissoring. The breeze. The crowd roaring as he, the fastest kid on Armwood's team, ran free for a score.

"One of the best feelings in the world was breaking into the open and running away," D.J. Mitchell said. "I miss that feeling."

Mitchell knew it well. In the first nine games of his senior season he caught 15 passes for 407 yards and had nine touchdowns, two on kickoff returns, two running end-arounds and five receiving. In the 10th game he had broken free again, racing 55 yards toward another score when ...

"My foot caught in a hole," he said. "I heard a snap! I went down and a defender fell on me.

"Because of that snap I knew I was in big trouble."

His leg dislocated at the knee, tearing the ACL, PCL and LCL.

He tried to get up.

"But the leg was like a noodle," he said. "I fell on the ground."

The injury was so brutal that pain was hidden behind shock, until, that is, the doctor popped the bone back in the socket.

"That's when I screamed," he said.

The next morning at the hospital, Armwood quarterback Justin Hickman visited for three hours, telling Mitchell, "I promise I'll put a (state championship) ring on your finger in five weeks." And so, Saturday will be five weeks to the day Hickman made the promise, which will come true if Armwood defeats Ponte Vedra Beach Nease in the Class 4A final.

"I believe they'll do it," said Mitchell, who will be there on crutches, as he has been there for every practice, meeting, meal and prayer session since his injury. "I'm there for my teammates. It's frustrating to stand there without a helmet on, watching. But it's what I have to do."

Hickman, who threw passes to Mitchell for almost an hour after every practice for three years, said, "Just seeing him standing there on those crutches is an inspiration. It wouldn't be right if D.J. wasn't with us on this. It just wouldn't."

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:50:19]