Kesler's Return Helps Settle Tigers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The date was Oct. 8, 1999, when Ross Kesler knew he had injured himself.
The Warsaw senior athlete knew because he had injured his back two years earlier, and now he had injured it again after taking a hit in a football game against NorthWood.
And, oh yeah, the pain told him.
"I knew I had hurt myself pretty bad," Kesler said.
Kesler fractured his back his sophomore year and refractured it again as a senior, in a different spot.
The back injury kept Kesler out of sports for nine weeks, until he returned for the Dec. 10 basketball game against Wawasee.
After returning, the toughest part for Kesler, as it is for most athletes after an injury, was adjusting and trusting. The doctors told him his back was healed, but he needed to clear a mental hurdle, getting over the fear that banging around on the court would reinjure him.
His most recent fracture was so small - the size of the end of your fingernail - it could not be identified during the first X-ray but only after a CAT scan.
But it was a fractured back and an injury so painful that Kesler spent much of the first week after the injury lying down.
"It was a sharp pain in my lower back, like I had gotten stabbed," is the way he described the pain.
He received three medical opinions, and all told him rehab, not surgery, was the answer. He traveled as far as Chicago to receive an opinion from a world-renown neurosurgeon from Los Angeles, Dr. Bob Wadkins, who was giving a seminar.
The doctors told Kesler he would miss 8-12 weeks of sports. He began rehabbing with local physical therapist Dr. Tom Johnson, doing exercises to strengthen his back by using an exercise ball and the like.
"Tom Johnson continually complimented Ross on the job he did as a patient," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said.
He was told he would miss 8-12 weeks. He returned to the practice floor at the start of the ninth week after missing four varsity basketball games.
While he had not been participating in the drills for those eight weeks, he nearly always was nearby. He could not contribute physically, but he could contribute by showing his support.
"He was at every practice," Rhodes said, "unless he had rehab."
Asked why Kesler has dealt with two back injuries in three years, Steve, his dad, said, "Ross walks slump-shouldered. That's why he's prone to these types of injuries. He needs to strengthen his stomach and back muscles. Basically, he needs to improve his posture."
For the first seven games, Warsaw did not resemble a team ranked No. 5 in the Hoosier Basketball magazine preseason poll. The Tigers were 5-2, but they lost to Northridge by 19 and struggled to get by Tippecanoe Valley and Columbia City.
Kesler was not the only injury. Starting guard Chris Wiggins sprained his ankle, reserve guard Jason Henthorn had a bum ankle, and starting forward Steve Siebenmorgen suffered a concussion.
All are back, and with them, the Tigers have won their last four games by 27, 14, 10 and 32 points. Kesler, who Rhodes often praises as his best defensive player and a player opposing coaches say does the "little things," is starting and shooting 65 percent from the field and averaging 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in eight games.
"We're looking good now," Kesler said. "We have struggled a little bit, but we hadn't played our starting five. I hadn't played with Chris Wiggins. Now it should be exciting because we're all together."
On this day, Kesler is wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt and talking in coach Rhodes' office. Where he will be a year from now, who knows.
He may have been injured in football, but the injury won't keep him out of football. A wide receiver, Kesler set school records for catches (75) and receiving yards (1,322) in a career. He finished in the top 10 in the state this season in receptions. He wants to play football in college, and several Division I-A schools have expressed interest.
Notre Dame has been mentioned, but that's gone by the wayside. Illinois has been mentioned, and he has taken a trip there. Indiana has been mentioned. So has Central Michigan. Michigan. Purdue. Western Michigan. The list goes on.
Kesler said his back injury will not scare off colleges as a knee injury would.
Indiana may have a slight edge, but coach Cam Cameron will not give him a full-ride scholarship.
"IU wants me to walk on," he said.
Doctors have given Kesler the OK to continue his football career and have told him continuing to play football does not make it anymore likely he could seriously injure his back.
"Once it's healed," Kesler said, "it's healed."
Said Steve: "Dr. Wadkins said there is nothing wrong with him. He told us 25 percent of all pro athletes have broken their vertebrae and don't know it."
Still, he will take precautions.
"Believe me, before he plays any more football, we will have the doctors look at him one more time," Steve said. [[In-content Ad]]
The date was Oct. 8, 1999, when Ross Kesler knew he had injured himself.
The Warsaw senior athlete knew because he had injured his back two years earlier, and now he had injured it again after taking a hit in a football game against NorthWood.
And, oh yeah, the pain told him.
"I knew I had hurt myself pretty bad," Kesler said.
Kesler fractured his back his sophomore year and refractured it again as a senior, in a different spot.
The back injury kept Kesler out of sports for nine weeks, until he returned for the Dec. 10 basketball game against Wawasee.
After returning, the toughest part for Kesler, as it is for most athletes after an injury, was adjusting and trusting. The doctors told him his back was healed, but he needed to clear a mental hurdle, getting over the fear that banging around on the court would reinjure him.
His most recent fracture was so small - the size of the end of your fingernail - it could not be identified during the first X-ray but only after a CAT scan.
But it was a fractured back and an injury so painful that Kesler spent much of the first week after the injury lying down.
"It was a sharp pain in my lower back, like I had gotten stabbed," is the way he described the pain.
He received three medical opinions, and all told him rehab, not surgery, was the answer. He traveled as far as Chicago to receive an opinion from a world-renown neurosurgeon from Los Angeles, Dr. Bob Wadkins, who was giving a seminar.
The doctors told Kesler he would miss 8-12 weeks of sports. He began rehabbing with local physical therapist Dr. Tom Johnson, doing exercises to strengthen his back by using an exercise ball and the like.
"Tom Johnson continually complimented Ross on the job he did as a patient," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said.
He was told he would miss 8-12 weeks. He returned to the practice floor at the start of the ninth week after missing four varsity basketball games.
While he had not been participating in the drills for those eight weeks, he nearly always was nearby. He could not contribute physically, but he could contribute by showing his support.
"He was at every practice," Rhodes said, "unless he had rehab."
Asked why Kesler has dealt with two back injuries in three years, Steve, his dad, said, "Ross walks slump-shouldered. That's why he's prone to these types of injuries. He needs to strengthen his stomach and back muscles. Basically, he needs to improve his posture."
For the first seven games, Warsaw did not resemble a team ranked No. 5 in the Hoosier Basketball magazine preseason poll. The Tigers were 5-2, but they lost to Northridge by 19 and struggled to get by Tippecanoe Valley and Columbia City.
Kesler was not the only injury. Starting guard Chris Wiggins sprained his ankle, reserve guard Jason Henthorn had a bum ankle, and starting forward Steve Siebenmorgen suffered a concussion.
All are back, and with them, the Tigers have won their last four games by 27, 14, 10 and 32 points. Kesler, who Rhodes often praises as his best defensive player and a player opposing coaches say does the "little things," is starting and shooting 65 percent from the field and averaging 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in eight games.
"We're looking good now," Kesler said. "We have struggled a little bit, but we hadn't played our starting five. I hadn't played with Chris Wiggins. Now it should be exciting because we're all together."
On this day, Kesler is wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt and talking in coach Rhodes' office. Where he will be a year from now, who knows.
He may have been injured in football, but the injury won't keep him out of football. A wide receiver, Kesler set school records for catches (75) and receiving yards (1,322) in a career. He finished in the top 10 in the state this season in receptions. He wants to play football in college, and several Division I-A schools have expressed interest.
Notre Dame has been mentioned, but that's gone by the wayside. Illinois has been mentioned, and he has taken a trip there. Indiana has been mentioned. So has Central Michigan. Michigan. Purdue. Western Michigan. The list goes on.
Kesler said his back injury will not scare off colleges as a knee injury would.
Indiana may have a slight edge, but coach Cam Cameron will not give him a full-ride scholarship.
"IU wants me to walk on," he said.
Doctors have given Kesler the OK to continue his football career and have told him continuing to play football does not make it anymore likely he could seriously injure his back.
"Once it's healed," Kesler said, "it's healed."
Said Steve: "Dr. Wadkins said there is nothing wrong with him. He told us 25 percent of all pro athletes have broken their vertebrae and don't know it."
Still, he will take precautions.
"Believe me, before he plays any more football, we will have the doctors look at him one more time," Steve said. [[In-content Ad]]