Harold Brantley is A training camp miracle
Brantley works his way back from horrific car crash to earn tryout at Redblacks camp
That Harold Brantley is alive is miracle enough.
That he’s playing football, that’s he’s trying to earn a job as a defensive lineman with the Ottawa Redblacks — well, that’s next-level stuff.
Nearly three years ago, June 21 — Father’s Day, 2015 — Brantley and his girlfriend Madeleine Stock were driving down a wet Missouri highway, near Columbia, in a Chrysler Concorde, doing 75 m.p.h. They were on their way to lunch, and the plan was to also stop and buy flowers and send them home to Brantley’s stepdad, Brian Dean, for Father’s Day. But on that rainy day, Brantley’s life story took a twist — a horrible car crash left him with a series of injuries so bad his mother Shantih was told her son’s life was in danger and she had better get to the hospital as soon as possible.
“I slowed down to let a car pass, I got a bit out of my lane and hit the rumble strip. When I tried to adjust to get back in my lane, my car turned perpendicular with the highway,” Brantley said. “We were just sliding down the highway and went from too far on the right side of the road to too far on the left. The car slid into the guardrail and rolled six or seven times.
“I couldn’t believe it was real, I couldn’t believe it was happening. As a football player, you live most of your life thinking you’re invincible ... until I get in a car accident and half my body’s broken and I’m hanging upside down waiting for the fire trucks to come and get me out.”
While his girlfriend, a college basketball player, was able to crawl out of the car with only a black eye and concussion, Brantley, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was stuck — his leg pinned between the door and the seat.
People stopped to help as he hung upside down in the mangled vehicle. They talked to him and helped him hold his body weight. Firemen arrived, cut off the door and pulled him out with the Jaws of Life.
His injuries included a broken left leg, torn ligaments in his left knee, broken ribs, both lungs punctured, fractured vertebrae in spine, cracked clavicle and a concussion.
His mother arrived at the hospital after a 14-hour drive from Pennsylvania to find her son stable — his lungs sewn up so he could breathe. He spent four months in and out of a wheelchair, on the receiving end of five surgeries.
“The doctors didn’t know if I’d be able to play football again for the first month and a half,” said Brantley, who had 54 tackles and five sacks for the Missouri Tigers in 2014. “A lot of times, I wanted to quit. I couldn’t move without pain, I couldn’t take myself to the bathroom, I couldn’t shower.
“Going from the most independent person you’ve ever met and not wanting any help to needing help with everything was the most humbling experience I’ve gone through in my life. I got a scholarship to go to college and I was dominant. Being in a wheelchair and having to literally look up to everyone was a big change for me.”
Before the crash, he was highly thought of in NFL circles, a potential high draft pick. He was 295 pounds, with 13 per cent body fat. Three weeks after the crash, he had shrunk to 224 pounds.
“It was hard for me to look at myself in the mirror,” Brantley said.
“I didn’t recognize myself. But in the long run, it put me where I needed to be.”
He persevered, he pushed himself to not only recover his health, but to play football again.
“I don’t think I really ever had a choice, I’m far too competitive,” Brantley said. “If I wasn’t going to be pushing myself to get back to football, I was going to push myself to walk again or get back in the weight room. I did not like being that skinny and being in bed all day.
“I had the most amazing support system between my teammates and my family and friends. My mom was pushing me to get healthy and be happy. She knew everything else would come after that. I was trying to push myself physically and she was really helping me take care of myself spiritually and mentally.”
He sat out a year of college football, building himself back up. It was a long, frustrating climb.
“I wanted to be out there with my teammates, my brothers,” he said. “The year I didn’t play, we had a really bad season. It was tough to be on the sidelines.” The story doesn’t end there. Because of academic issues, he was released by the Tigers. He wound up at a Division II school, Northwest Missouri State — where he had 22 tackles and
2 1/2 sacks. It made him stronger, more appreciative of what he had and of those around him.
“I really just came to terms with it this past year,” he said. “It goes back to the support system — they don’t let me doubt myself and they don’t let me stop working.”
He worked as a meat cutter at Sam’s Club and at UPS shipping boxes. But football was still in the back of his mind.
The Redblacks found him at a tryout in Atlanta less than two weeks ago. He got a call from them last week.
“I’m just happy to be out here,” said Brantley, who is listed as weighing 280 pounds. “This is definitely where I want to be. I’m a football player. I don’t think I
If I wasn’t going to be pushing myself to get back to football, I was going to push myself to walk again or get back in the weight room.
went through all that to hang up the cleats.”
THE COACH SAYS: Asked about his observation after the first three days of training camp, Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said: “The enthusiasm is really good, the guys are working hard. I told them a good indicator in training camp is Days 3, 4 and 5 — we’re entering into that phase. Guys are starting to feel it a bit in their legs. These are the days you want to push through and be on the rise. We always talk around here about our arrow going up. We’re looking for people that are getting better.”
THE END AROUND: Former Redblacks receiver Jake Harty, who signed as a free agent with Saskatchewan, has a torn ACL, a big blow to the Roughriders
... The Redblacks are scheduled to practise from 8:30-11:55 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 8:30-11 a.m. Friday. It’s back to 8:30-11:55 Saturday with a Fan Fest Sunday from noon-4 p.m. (there will be a scrimmage from 1-2:15 p.m.).