Minutes after Josh Parry's college football career ended, the game he loves was far from his mind.
Still wearing muddy cleats and his grass-stained San Jose State uniform, he bent down to hug younger brother Neil, who was in a wheelchair. They exchanged a few whispers and then Josh guided his brother down a hallway at the school's training complex.
At a critical, painful moment in his football life, Josh was thinking only of Neil, whose right leg was amputated below the knee after he broke it in a game in October.
"The courage he's shown is just unbelievable. There are no words for it," Josh said. "I'm so proud of him. He's got a long way to go, but he'll make it."
Just a few weeks earlier, Neil also was wearing the purple, gold and white of the Spartans. He and Josh were teammates and shared an off-campus apartment -- "as close as two brothers could be," their father, Nick Parry, said.
There were significant differences between Josh and Neil, however. Josh, 22, was a hulking star linebacker, the WAC's second-leading tackler and a player with a shot at the NFL.
His 20-year-old brother was a reedy walk-on sophomore, a high school quarterback-turned-safety who made the Spartans' roster with sheer determination. He got his only real playing time on special teams, but coach Dave Baldwin noticed that Neil shared all of his brother's passion for the game.
"He's just so tough," Baldwin said.
Things changed on Oct. 14. While on routine kickoff coverage in a game against UTEP, Neil's right leg was horribly broken. He can barely remember how it happened: He was pushed, he fell under someone, and then he heard his leg snap.
The injury severely damaged nerves and arteries in his leg, and surgery to correct the problems caused a life-threatening infection. Doctors had to amputate the leg at mid-calf.
"There were a couple of days when I was pretty beaten down," Neil said. "But my family got me through it. They were my inspiration just like I was theirs."
After the operation, Josh went with the team to Reno, where he made 17 tackles against Nevada. Baldwin said he'd never seen a linebacker play with such intensity.
Neil got around in a wheelchair more quickly than anyone expected. He was on crutches a few days later, and almost as soon as the shock of the accident wore off, Neil told anyone who would listen that he wanted to play football again.
"When I heard that, I wasn't sure whether to cheer or cry," Baldwin said.
It seemed impossible, and still does.
"I know he can do it if he wants to," Josh said. "But the thing is, he thinks he can do it. He hasn't been wrong yet."<
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