Bulldog determined to get back into the game

By IZZY GOULD, Times Staff Writer
Published August 19, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - Quentin Amos was all alone in his hospital bed one afternoon.

Hopelessness set in, then fear. A tear fell, then another, then a few more.

Amos had drifted to a dark place, somewhere he still is reluctant to share with those closest to him. He looked down at the body of a promising Division I prospect. His eyes shifted to his bandaged left arm, the one nearly amputated after a car accident.

Amos wondered: Was he just another Zephyrhills senior?

"It really hit me right there," Amos said. "I might not ever get to play football again. My dreams are done. What else is there?"

That's what made 10:41 a.m. Aug. 10 so special.

Among the echo of crunching bodies in a thick, soupy heat on Zephyrhills' practice field stood Amos. He stepped to the front of a drill, dressed in the Bulldogs' varsity white uniform. With his orange helmet strapped tightly, the lineman broke out of a three-point stance and made his first hit since last season.

It was a hit many thought they would never see.

"I was kind of hesitant to hit with my arm," Amos said. "I went kind of half speed. After the first hit I warmed up to it. It was time to go. It felt real good to finally get to hit again."

A promising future

Amos became a regular starter his sophomore season. When he came to Zephyrhills he stood 6-3 and weighed 320 pounds. He has gained an inch and some weight entering his senior season; he's 340 if you ask him, 370 if you ask his older sister.

His size has always entranced coaches. A bundle of recruiting letters from major Division I schools sits on a bookshelf in his bedroom. Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, Connecticut, FAU, USF, West Virginia - all dropped lines of bait near Amos.

This season was supposed to be the culmination of a career that began in seventh grade.

"He was very determined, very aggressive," Zephyrhills coach Tom Fisher said. "For a kid his size he works his butt off. He didn't make that many tackles. His main asset was having a lot of assists; that meant he was determined to get to the football."

Amos said he is a cousin of Green Bay Packers lineman Ryan Pickett, a former Zephyrhills star who played at Ohio State. Amos has blocked for Florida redshirt freshman Bryan Thomas and talented Furman freshman Sederrick Cunninghan.

Being so close with guys who made it was inspiring for the big fella friends call "Big Q."

"That's always been my dream," Amos said of playing major college football. "I've thought about that since seventh grade."

Amos comes from a deeply religious family. His father, Homer, is a deacon; his mother, Voncelia, an evangelist. His house sits on a dirt road a short walk from Victorious Church of God.

Amos is a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan with a Steelers logo stenciled on his bedroom wall and along with black Steelers curtains, bedding and a tablecloth.

On the day that changed his life, Amos was on his way to play Madden Football on Xbox 360 with a guy he remembers only as "Andy."

The accident

On April 19, Amos was driving his prized 2002 red Ford F-150 in a subdivision near Lake Bernadette, trying to keep up with his friend. He zipped around a turn and one of his wheels clipped the sidewalk.

Amos quickly lost control.

"I tried to get back on the street and the truck tipped over and started flipping," he said. "It was like a dream. Everything was in slow motion flying around me, glass is breaking and I hit a tree. It seemed like I just woke up."

The red truck had flipped three times and crossed over a median, taking down a tree, then coming to rest facing the opposite direction with the driver's side door in the air. Amos climbed out of the open back window and began assessing the damage.

He always drove with his left arm hanging out of the driver's side window. His arm was in bad shape and he knew it.

"I kept my cool," Amos said. "I was pretty calm about it."

Amos was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. His sister, Chemeka, arrived at the accident site after the helicopter left.

"There was blood everywhere," Chemeka said. "His school stuff was on the ground covered in blood. We saw Andy and he was shaking. He was really in shock."

Andy, it turned out, was the son of a nurse. He made a tourniquet with Amos' custom "Q" belt to help slow the bleeding.

The family arrived at the hospital and quickly learned the severity of the injury when doctors showed them a series of six pictures.

"It was like shredded meat," Chemeka said. "My mom busted out crying. I was crying. It was hard to see something like that. The other pictures showed the progression of them cleaning it until it got to just white bone. It looked like a fake arm."

Teammates, coaches and friends converged on the hospital to show their support.

Then doctors presented Amos' family with a decision. They could amputate his arm or try to save it.

"They said it was going to take a lot to save his arm," Chemeka said. "My mom said he can't lose his arm. The whole time immediately following the accident they said all he was talking about was football. He wasn't even talking about his arm."

Recovery

Saving the arm proved a monumental task. Skin and bone were virtually all that remained and doctors literally had to reconstruct the arm's interior.

They transplanted a muscle from his back and took skin grafts from both thighs. Amos coped with the pain of more than a month in the hospital (he got out June 2) and 10 surgeries.

"It seemed like an eternity," Amos said. "Just sitting by myself at night all I could think about was football."

Initially, the new muscle in his arm sagged. It looked bad. Amos knew it and his family knew it though they were encouraging on the surface.

"They were lying out the skin of their teeth," Amos said with a laugh. "I knew it. I could see for myself my arm was looking horrible."

Amos was plugged with IVs and two "grenade-type balls" in his back to help drain fluid from the surgery to remove his muscle. He was bedridden for about three weeks before he tried to begin walking again.

Ultimately, his faith in God got him through the rough patches.

"We constantly prayed," Chemeka said.

Today Amos wears a wrap around his arm. He says he doesn't feel pain and can feel his fingers and use a few of them. Doctors want to operate at least once more to connect tendons to the last three fingers on his left hand, but he is reluctant.

"The surgery's not guaranteed," Amos said. "I would have to have tendons removed from a leg and an arm and there's still a chance I can't move my fingers any way.

"I know I'm going to move my fingers. It's just a matter of time."

Football future

As Friday's practice continued, Amos got more and more confident in his ability to hit. He appeared to have trouble lifting his left arm, which was evident throughout the drill. He would make contact and wrap with his right arm while his left arm lay almost limp.

On his final hit, Amos appeared to lift his left arm enough to partially wrap the ball carrier.

It's still too early to know what to expect from him this season.

"He's out there in full pads so he's definitely going to be playing," Fisher said. "Where and what capacity will depend on how he copes with the injury. It's going to take some time for him to feel comfortable whether he's got to protect that ball or reckless abandon.

"That's something he has to decide."

Izzy Gould can be reached at izzygould@tampabay.com or (727) 580-5315.

[Last modified August 18, 2007, 20:20:27]