Football Brain Injuries & A Fighting Spirit

It was Sept. 15, 1984, and CU football was playing in Oregon. Buffs tight-end Ed Reinhardt took the ball on a routine play near the game’s end.  As he was tackled, his head struck an Oregon player, then the field. A blood vessel burst and a radically new life began.  Rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery, performed by a neurosurgeon who’d been at the game, Ed was in a coma for 62 days.  The 6’5”, 235-pound sophomore with a 3.65 GPA awoke to a lifetime of reinvention that should be an inspiration to us all.  Ed is still partially paralyzed from that injury.

For 25 years, Ed and his father, Ed Sr., have traveled the country speaking about the value of a fighting spirit. Ed, who had to relearn basic speech and movement, loves singing and acting, performing in plays and musicals, as well as at fundraisers and, from time to time, in Folsom Field.