Northwestern University Athletics
Pat Durr: The Man in the Middle
11/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 12, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - It takes an awful lot to play linebacker in the Big Ten Conference. Strength, speed, size, are all qualities one absolutely must possess if they hope to line up against the most physical football players in the nation.
Physical attributes do not make up the entire picture, however. Some may even suggest that while they might be prerequisites, the physical aspects of playing linebacker takes a backseat to the mental side. If that is the case, Northwestern senior Pat Durr is certainly qualified to line up and hit anyone he wants.
Durr, a fifth-year senior has proven his toughness-both physical and mental. While Durr has seen a countless number of unfortunate ball carriers crumble under his shoulder pads, it is what he saw looking down at his knee that would test his toughness more than ever before.
Six plays into what Durr as well as the entire Northwestern football family expected to be a stellar senior year in 2002, Durr tracked an Air Force running back, waiting for the right time to strike. However, before he made his charge, a Falcon came from outside his peripheral and dove toward the linebacker's legs. Durr felt a white helmet slam into the outside of his knee. Moments later, he was lying on the field in pain. It was the last time he would see the green grass of a football field all season.
"Right away I knew something was really wrong," Durr said. "I tried to get up and jog off the field, but my knee just buckled. The pain was on the inside of my knee so I didn't think it was really going to be as bad as it was."
Initially, Durr thought he had suffered an injury to his MCL-serious, but an injury that rarely ends in surgery and has a recovery time of anywhere from four to eight weeks. With Durr sidelined for at least a few weeks, the Northwestern defense had to come up with an answer. That answer was much harder to find than anyone could have imagined. Durr's injury was much worse than anyone could have imagined as well.
Tests revealed that Durr had not only tore his MCL, but his ACL, lateral meniscus, PCL as well. He also suffered a partially chipped femur. Suddenly, the temporary answer NU was forced to find turned into a season-long riddle the 'Cats were never really able to figure out. Durr underwent surgery soon after the Air Force game and was relegated to a spot on the sidelines with crutches and a season's worth of what ifs.
"When I got all of the tests done and found out the extent of the injury, I obviously knew that my season was gone," said Durr. "I knew that in order to get through the whole thing, I was going to need support from everybody."
An injury of that magnitude is common enough to end a player's career. However, Pat Durr is not just any player. While he had already completed enough credits to graduate in May, Durr simply could not walk away from something he was such a huge part of. Not only was he the defense's equivalent to the quarterback, he was a team captain.
"A lot of people come back from multiple-ligament tears, but with the whole bone issue, the success rate is a lot lower. There was a point where I wondered if it would be worth going through all of the rehab and still not be able to play," said Durr. "But there was no way I was done playing football. I've been playing since I was seven years old and it's what I love to do."
Rather than disappearing in the background for the remainder of the 2002 season, one in which the Wildcat defense surrendered a Big Ten-worst 502.3 yards a game, Durr treated every game as though he was playing that weekend. He watched extra game film and studied the NU game plan as though he was preparing for a chemistry exam. Every night before he fell asleep, he visualized himself tackling the Big Ten's best players.
After enduring hours upon hours of rehabilitation throughout the fall and winter, Durr was ready to get back on the field in the spring-at least in his own mind.
"When you are a football player, you want to play football. There is only so much running and lifting you can do before it gets vanilla," Durr said. "But I knew time was on my side at that point. It was almost like I was so close, but still so far away."
However, caution took precedence over aggression and Durr was forced back to the sideline, fueling what was already an already feverish itch to hit someone. Now, nine games into his second senior year, Durr has certainly been able to hit people. He leads the defense with 91 tackles and has appeared to have even gained a step with his speed. However, the physical aspect of Durr's presence, again, might even be less significant than what seeing number 3 in the huddle means to his teammates. He has been the proverbial adrenaline needle in the arm of the NU defense. His intensity is contagious and the still-youthful Wildcat defense has been infected.
"I think what I bring to the table is a certain level of intensity. I play emotional football," said Durr. "I love to get out there, scream and yell and get after it."
One could easily classify what he has done on the field thus far as "getting after it." He led the Wildcats with 15 tackles against the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes and kept the Wildcats in the contest. Two weeks later, he made a career-best 22 tackles in the 37-31 overtime win over Indiana.
With their man in the middle feeling healthy and back in midseason form, do not count the 'Cats out of the postseason picture. With his toughness, it would be foolish to count Durr out from anything again.
