The Good Men Project

In May of 2009, Boston College senior linebacker Mark Herzlich disclosed that he has been diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a malignant tumor most often found in bone or soft tissue.   Staring down this latest opponent with the same grit and determination that helped make him the 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Herzlich began an aggressive treatment and vowed to beat the cancer and return to the football field someday.

Herzlich & Flutie

Turning Points
By Mark Herzlich

It was early evening in October of 2002, my freshman year in high school. I had finished dinner and my mother told me that my father wanted to see me in his office on the top floor of our split-level home. I made my way up the stairs through the living room and my brother’s bedroom. As I made my way up the final set of stairs I see my father sitting behind his large mahogany desk, intently concentrating on a portfolio on his desktop.  I entered the room and began towards the far side of the room in which an empty chair across from my father seemed the most suitable choice for a destination. I sat in the chair as my father continued to read his papers. I sat for a little longer as I started to feel uncomfortable with the silence looming around us. I was now aware that this was no ordinary visit to see my father. There was seriousness about his behavior that I had rarely seen. He closed the folder, put it in the already opened drawer and took off his glasses as his eyes rose to meet my anxious stare. As he began to talk I leaned forward in my chair as if to be intently listening but all the while thoughts of punishment and what I had done wrong filled my brain.

My thoughts snapped back into focus as he brought up my football game the day before. “Mark, I have been watching you play sports for close to ten years now. You are a gifted athlete and have always succeeded in what ever you have wanted on the playing field.” He paused briefly, “You know why you have had so much success?” I just stared at him and as I figured he would he answered his question, “ It is not because of your physical ability that you have been able to go out and come back with trophies and medals, it is because of your love for the game.”  I waited again for him to continue. “Your mother and I have watched u grow up and watched you love lacrosse and succeed at that, watched you love basketball with the same success and until recently I have watched you love football with the same passion and watched you succeed as well. I have been coming to your games this season and frankly have been disappointed. I know that you can be a great player and I know you have the talent to succeed. What I am disappointed with is your lack of pride in yourself and your lack of heart. You show no emotion on the field play with terrible effort, which tells me that you aren’t enjoying what you are doing and that you have lost your love for football.”

My eyes fell to the floor, I turned hot and my mind started racing. What if I had lost my love and passion for football? Was I just out there to mess around? Should I even be playing? “I love you Mark and will always love you, but I refuse to continue to come to your games if this is the way you are going to treat it. I cannot stand to watch my son play with such an uncaring attitude.” Now my heart joined my eyes on the floor. “My father way my biggest fan. He was my coach in basketball and lacrosse and earlier in football. He had been to every game that I had ever played in.  We sat in silence for what seemed like an hour but in reality was only about 20 seconds. I looked up at him and asked one simple question. I asked him for one more chance and to come to my next game. He complied and I turned and walked out of his office. I retired to my bed and vowed to play with passion and pride that I had never played with before. I vowed to strive to be the best at everything that I did from then on in sports and life. Never again did I want to sit in that chair and be told that I wasn’t trying to be my best.

Seven and a half years later I stand here today as the number one ranked linebacker in the nation. I am the reigning ACC defensive player of the year and the top ranked senior in the 2010 NFL draft. Most importantly my father is my biggest fan.

There are turning points in everyone’s life for good or for bad. Seven years ago I had a turning point that will forever change my life. Lying in my bed contemplating what I wanted and how I was going to get there I made that vow. I have kept to that promise to myself and have pushed myself to be the best. I have received all-academic team recognition from the ACC for the past two years and have been chosen to help lead a committee to represent all athletes at BC for the past two years as well. All of this has come as a result of my effort to better myself and strive to become great.

My father never told me that he wouldn’t watch my games if I wasn’t on varsity, he didn’t say that he wouldn’t watch my games if I didn’t get a scholarship to college, he never told me that he wouldn’t be there if I didn’t become the best linebacker in the nation. He simply told me that he wouldn’t come watch me do something that I didn’t love to do.

I love the fans who have shown support through the good and the bad. I love my teammates who are 100 of the greatest men that one could ever run across. I love my coaches who have guided me from not knowing how to line up, to dissecting offensive game plans. I love Boston College, I have made it my home.

I have since told this story many times to friends to teammates to reporters and to aspiring athletes because of how meaningful the message was to me. I am who I am today as a result of my work ethic and love for what I do. As I reach another turning point in my life, my current battle with cancer. I have kept this same message in mind. I am proud of the person I am, I am proud of the people I have made my friends and I am proud of my family. This is another type of battle away from the football field but also can only be conquered with love and support.