We can't put our finger on it ... and neither can he
By PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writer
Trevor Wikre was willing to forgo a finger for football.
The senior offensive lineman at Mesa State College (of Grand Junction, Colo.) fractured his right pinkie so severely in practice on Tuesday, doctors told him he needed immediate surgery. His season and career would be finished.
Instead, Wikre told them to amputate the finger. He's now missing a good portion of his pinkie.
"I'm just short one," the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Wikre said with a chuckle. "But this game means that much to me. This team means that much to me."
Wikre will miss the Mavericks' game today at Colorado School of Mines, but will be back the following week -- albeit with what's left of his finger covered in a cast.
"Football is something that's been in my blood," said Wikre, from Berthoud, Colo. "It's something I have a passion for. The game quits everybody eventually -- you want to hang on to it as long as you can."
Wikre was going for a block in practice when he caught his finger in a teammate's jersey. At first, he didn't give the ailing pinkie a second thought, thinking the sensation he
was feeling inside his glove was a piece of tape that had simply slipped off. But when he removed his glove, the bone was jutting out, and he was immediately sent to the hospital.
Doctors informed Wikre he would need surgery to insert a pin and that he'd likely be out for up to six months as the finger healed. He couldn't bear the thought of his career ending so abruptly, so he decided to forsake the finger.
"This was the best way to get me back out there," Wikre said. "There are worse things in the world -- a pinkie is not that bad in my mind."
Mesa State, a Division II school, has won its last three games, and Wikre didn't want to mess up the mojo. So he'll sit.
"We've got a great team," said Wikre, who was an all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player last season. "We've got to keep this rolling."
Instead, he'll mentor his backup on the sideline, shouting encouragement and advice.
"I'll be that big supporter," he said.
Wikre said he'll never glance back at his decision with remorse. What's done is done.
"Never look back on the decisions you make," he said. "Everybody thinks I'm crazy, but anybody that loves sports and has had this camaraderie knows what it's like."
That's why he was willing to part with his pinkie.
"This will be a great story down the line," Wikre said.
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