Yolanda Aguayo watches her son, senior kicker Sergio Aguayo, play football with one eye closed, cringing as linemen come his way. But still she watches. He's her only son, her hijo.
Imagine her anxiety at last year's season opener in Sam Boyd Stadium. After a poor kickoff, Aguayo tried to make a tackle and felt his left knee buckle. He jogged off the field trying to pop it back into place. Mom could tell something was wrong.
In the locker room, while mom called Aguayo's cell phone four times, trainers determined that he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the medial collateral ligament (MCL).
He thought back to the day he'd told his mom he was going to play football. "She told me I was crazy, and that I would get hurt," he says. "I'd told her, 'Mom, I'm the kicker, and kickers don't get hurt.'"
F?TBOL AND FOOTBALL
Growing up in Pasadena, Calif., Aguayo remembers kicking a soccer ball around the house since he could walk. "Soccer was always my true love," he says. "Me and my dad would go to L.A. Galaxy soccer games in the Rose Bowl every weekend."
As a freshman at San Jacinto High School, Aguayo played clarinet in the band at Friday night football games. "I remember the lights, the crowds, and the excitement in the air -- I wanted to be a part of that."
He tried out as a wide receiver for the junior varsity team, but the varsity coach pulled him aside to be the kicker. "I tried to get my friends to trade positions, but no one wanted to be the kicker," he says laughing. "It has worked out pretty good for me though."
Aguayo played football in the fall and soccer in the winter. The U.S. Soccer Olympic Development Program invited him to try out, but a knee injury during the first practice ended his chances. In football, he earned all-state honors, and was offered a full scholarship to UNLV. "It was really exciting because I would be able to attend college without my parents having to worry about paying for it," he says.
REHABILITATE AND RETURN
Trying to make that tackle derailed him from being the most prolific kicker in UNLV history. He didn't want the injury to end his junior season. Since no further damage could be done, doctors told him he could rehabilitate his MCL and delay ACL surgery until after the 2006 season. "I have never heard of anyone who continued to play after an 'unhappy triad' -- a torn ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus," says Russell Muir, the athletic training graduate intern assigned to Aguayo last year. "If the injury had occurred on his plant leg, which bears more weight, he would have been done for the year."
Muir's first goal was to decrease the swelling and restore a full range of motion. "There is no textbook for this situation, so we had to feel it out and just use a good philosophy for recovery," he says.
Aguayo's daily regimen called for 90 minutes of strength and motion exercises. "I would close my eyes and bite down on a towel, fighting through the pain, in order to get the flexion back in my knee."
Muir, who is completing a master's degree in sports medicine, kept Aguayo from overdoing it. "Sergio was very motivated and wanted to do more and more to get back faster," he says. "Unfortunately, that is not the prescription for a quick return."
After three weeks, Aguayo returned for the UNR game wearing a custom knee brace. "I give Russell a lot of credit," Aguayo says. "It's nice to know that someone cares that much. After all, I am just a kicker."
THE RIGHT DECISION?
Aguayo's mental game was tested when he missed five field goals -- more than he had missed in any entire season -- in a 21-7 loss to San Diego State on Nov. 11. "After that game, I wasn't sure if I had made the right decision," says Aguayo. "A kicker's performance is magnified because the crowd sees you make and miss field goals -- they either love you or hate you."
His pre-game routine helps him refocus for each game. He listens to comedian George Lopez and sleeps in the bed closest to the window in hotels. Before home games, he goes to In-N-Out Burger for a double-double, animal style, with a Coke.
After a season-closing win over Air Force, Aguayo had his knee surgery with Muir in the operating room. "Having a familiar face there helps ease the anxiety," says Muir. "It is also beneficial for me to witness the surgical procedures that I rehabilitate."
This season, Aguayo is on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award for best kicker in the nation. In December, the university studies major will become the first in his extended family to graduate from a U.S. college. "I have a lot of relatives, including my 15-year-old sister, who look up to me and realize they, too, can go to college."
