Returning to the field is not all that Rawlings appreciates
NEW HAVEN — It wasn’t that Kurt Rawlings wasn’t jumping for joy when he was fully cleared in his recovery from a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments but that wasn’t even close to the best news that Yale’s rising senior quarterback received in the month of February.
Around the same time that Rawlings realized that he would be able to take part in Yale’s spring practice without any restriction, there was another piece of health news that put all of his football exploits, dreams and aspirations into perspective. Yes, it was amazing to have two healthy legs to stand on but nothing meant more to Rawlings than hearing that his mother Kathy was cancer free.
“Life will throw you curveballs, you have to go with it and handle it,” Rawlings said after Saturday’s Yale spring game held at Bowen Field. “She is a warrior and to be able to see her and how she handled it day to day, putting my injury into perspective it didn’t even compare. Having her to look up to as a role model and superhero made my recovery so much easier. I can only thank God for blessing us with safe and good recoveries. She is doing awesome, she is handling it like a champ.
“Once she got the results back from the tests ... I knew God had us in his best interests. He has a plan for us so I wasn’t worried. Knowing that she is all good now, there is no better feeling. I’d give up football to have her safe.”
There are still some treatments for Kathy to go through but every indication is that cancer is in her rearview mirror.
“His family is incredible,” Yale receiver and 2019 team captain JP Shohfi said. “They do so much for our team and he does so much for our team so to know how much he has fought through and he has fought through, there is so much love for them.”
Yale was on its way to a 4-2 start when Rawlings suffered the season-ending leg injury in a win over Penn. The Bulldogs would lose three of their final four games without Rawlings, just one of the key offensive players forced to the sidelines during an injury-ravaged 2018 season.
“He is looking very good, it has been nice to have him out here this spring to work off some rust,” Yale coach Tony Reno said. “Kurt is the one percent you coach, he is 15-5 as a starter, he is an incredible player and a great, great leader. He is one of the guys that whenever he walks onto the field, the team just believes all the time. If Kurt said to the team let’s meet on 95 North at 5 p.m., they would be there.”
Yale turned to freshman Griffin O’Connor for the final three games and all he did was throw for 436, 465 and 328 yards in his three starts. The Bulldogs have the luxury of two dynamic players to the quarterback position.
“It is so much fun seeing him go out and do his thing,” Rawlings said. “He is an incredible player, he is going to be a great quarterback for us here and it was just awesome to see him have success out there.”
With Rawlings and O’Connor leading the way, the Yale offense won five of the nine periods in the spring game with the defense striking first to win the opening period before falling 5-4 in what was more of a controlled scrimmage than a true scrimmage.
“I think we are starting to put it together,” said Rawlings, , who ranks fifth on Yale’s career charts in completions, total offense and passing yards with a season remaining. “We still have a long way to go before fall but it was good to see the offense finally getting back into a groove. We finally started hitting our stride, we were making some plays there.
“Our defense is awesome so being able to score some points on them shows that we are making some improvements because they are a good defense. They beat us up pretty good this spring and it is good seeing some of these younger guys flying around on both sides of the ball.”
The Bulldogs have four quarterbacks who threw passes during the 2018 season on the roster. With so much depth, former Fairfield Prep star Patrick Conte is getting some work in at tight end.
Reno said that the Bulldogs came out of spring practice in good shape physically which is good news considering how many times the Bulldogs limped into the fall in recent years.
The spring game was part of a continued partnership between Yale and the city of New Haven. It started with a clinic run by Yale coaches with middle school students from New Haven. Larry Ciotti, who spent more than 20 years on Yale’s coaching staff and is now an adviser to Reno, and Yale police officer Martin Parker, a former Hyde High star, are at the forefront of the “One New Haven,” the initiative that partners Yale Football and the New Haven and Yale Police Departments with youth football players.
“We are very fortunate that Martin Parker, Larry Ciotti and his team have done an incredible job really bridging the gap between football and the Yale community especially with the middle school kids,” Reno said. “Martin has done an incredible job, this is a start of our Bulldog Buddies program and we hope it grows.”