Jason White

Jason White (uofoklahoma.com)

The hero I chose for my project is the 2003 Heisman Trophy (top college football player) Award winner, Jason White of the University of Oklahoma.

Jason White (uofoklahoma.com)

As the starting quarterback in his sophomore year in 2001, Jason suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. He had surgery and sat out the rest of the season. He won back the starting position as a junior, but seriously injured his other knee. The next season again he had surgery and had to sit out the rest of the season. As a fifth year senior, he once again won the starting quarterback position. Incredibly, he led the Sooners to an undefeated regular season, out throwing all quarterbacks for 3,846 yards and 40 touchdowns. He earned the title of 2003 Heisman Trophy Award winner.

Jason White (uofoklahoma.com)

Jason White showed he was a “hero within”. He fought against overwhelming odds to recover from an injury and still become a champion. The first characteristic that makes him a “hero within” is that he faced challenges and triumphed. With both knees injured he faced many challenges of recovering and preparing himself for playing football. To prepare himself, he lifted weights and went rehab sessions 5 days a week. The second characteristic is that he overcame doubts and fears. Someone’s worst nightmare would be tearing an ACL in your knee just once, but after a second time it would take a lot of courage to play football again. The third characteristic is that he had faith. Jason believed in himself and knew that he could make it through rehab and triumph. He couldn’t have made a full recovery unless he had faith in himself. The final characteristic is he kept an optimistic spirit and saw his struggles as a gift. Even with both knees injured he thought of his injuries as a challenge.

Heisman trophy (www.heismantrophy.com)

In addition, he put his teammates before himself. Dusty Dvoracek said, “He’s a team guy. He doesn’t need all the press or the media. He doesn’t care about all of that. He cares about us.”

BCS logo (BCS.com)

In conclusion here’s a man who fought back from multiple injuries and succeeded at a sport he loved, and still put others before him. He is an excellent example of a true hero.