UPPER LAKE — Seventeen-year-old Kellen Smith might not play another down of football, but he did complete his final pass.
That might not seem like great consolation to a high school senior and an ardent Dallas Cowboys fan with most of his life still in front of him, but given where the Upper Lake High School student found himself one year earlier, it was like throwing the winning pass in the final seconds of the Super Bowl.
On Aug. 30, 2018, Kellen Smith was fighting for his life in a Vacaville hospital after sustaining life-threatening injuries 15 days earlier in an auto accident on the Northshore. In fact, on that day he was undergoing a second surgery. The odds of him ever returning to a football field weren’t good, but that’s exactly what happened on Aug. 30, 2019.
“I remember the first meeting with the doctor and he told us Kellen had severe brain damage,” said Mike Smith, Kellen’s dad, Upper Lake’s former head football coach and the principal at Upper Lake Middle School. “They never told us we could expect this or expect that. They told us that all brain injuries are different.”
Kellen’s age and good physical condition prior to the accident certainly would work to his advantage, according to the doctors.
“We’re feeling very blessed,” Smith said of the events that have transpired since his son’s injury. “You just hope he’ll keep improving.”
Fast-forward to a year later.
Smith, wearing the No. 5 he was about to enter the 2018 season with as Upper Lake’s backup quarterback behind Ray Moran, took the snap from center and threw a pass toward the Upper Lake sideline where wide receiver Benat Love caught it before immediately taking a knee, ending the play.
Virginia City, Upper Lake’s season-opening opponent, certainly knew the play was coming and members of the defense watched the pass unfold like everyone else who was present Friday night. It only seemed fitting, too. It was a year earlier during the Upper Lake-Virginia City season opener in Virginia City that fans of the Muckers passed the hat to raise money for Smith’s significant medical expenses. That they also got to witness his return to the football field on Friday night seemed every bit appropriate. Muckers players all shook Kellen’s hand and congratulated him before he departed the playing field to a nice round of applause from the Upper Lake crowd.
Of course, Kellen’s dad was right there on the sidelines, greeting him with a big hug as he exited the playing field. Mike also addressed the crowd at halftime to honor his son’s milestone achievement, to thank the Upper Lake community for all of its support since his son’s injury, and to thank the Virginia City program for all it had done a year earlier.
Kellen still can’t play every day as he continues the rehabilitation process. Not that his football career is the most important thing at this point. It clearly is not.
Fans and players on both sides were simply happy to see him back on the field doing what he loves. After what happened a year ago, they were simply grateful to see him smiling, well and very much alive.
