To Play or Not To Play . . . : Career-Threatening Injury Is Downside of Prep All-Star Games

A hush fell over the stadium when Tony Gonzalez didn’t get up.

Nine minutes into the Orange County All-Star football game July 8, the Huntington Beach tight end caught an 11-yard pass before a gang of defenders tackled him.

After the play, Gonzalez, who has a scholarship to play football and basketball for California next season, was on the Orange Coast College turf, clutching his right knee and writhing in pain.

“He thought his career was over right there,” said Judy Gonzalez, Tony’s mother.

Luckily for the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Gonzalez, he suffered only a second-degree sprain. He will miss six to eight weeks of action, but with rehabilitation and therapy, Gonzalez should be ready for Cal’s season opener at San Diego State, Sept. 10.

Gonzalez, The Times Lineman of the Year and a two-time all-county selection, had an MRI exam on his knee Thursday in Berkeley. He won’t receive the results for a few days, Gonzalez said.

“The doctor told me I should be good as new in about a month or two,” Gonzalez said. “Of course I have regrets about playing in that all-star game now. I had never been seriously hurt in my life.

“I wanted to play in that game for (Huntington Beach) Coach (George) Pascoe. He’s done so much for me. Besides, what was the chance that I would get hurt in that game?”

Some football coaches say chances for injuries in an all-star game aren’t any higher than other athletic contests.

“Athletics have an inherent injury factor,” said Bill Workman, Orange Coast College football coach and former Edison High coach. “There’s a chance you could get hurt in an all-star game and there’s a chance you could get hurt lifting weights.”

That’s what quarterback Jim Karsatos thought in 1981.

During the 1980 season, Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney watched Karsatos pass for 2,703 yards, then a single-season Orange County record.

Karsatos earned a scholarship to Ohio State then played in the 1981 Orange County All-Star football game where he suffered a knee injury.

“I can still see that play unfolding,” Devaney said. “Jim was passing and a defensive lineman was down on his hands and knees, crawling toward Jim.

“Jim had just planted his right leg to throw, and the guy lunged at him. It was a freak accident.”

Dr. Lewis Yocum performed surgery on Karsatos’ knee to repair ligament damage, and the initial diagnosis indicated that Karsatos’ career was over.

But when Karsatos’ knee recovered better than anticipated, he was back on the football field and earned the starting quarterback job at Ohio State as a junior in 1985.

After passing for more than 5,000 yards in his Ohio State career, the Miami Dolphins selected Karsatos, a 6-3, 220-pounder, on the 12th round of the 1987 draft.

“It’s difficult to tell how that knee injury affected his career,” Devaney said. “He got his shot to play with the Dolphins, but he blew his other knee out in an NFL exhibition game just planting his foot.

“Did he just have bad knees? Well, he was a big person, and his upper body was perhaps more muscular and developed than his lower body. Maybe the injury reduced his chances, but who knows how and why it affected him?”

Unlike Karsatos, Santa Ana’s George Tuioti didn’t get to play in the Orange County all-star game. He blew out his knee preparing for the 1987 game.

During a non-contact drill in a practice, Tuioti, a flamboyant linebacker who had signed with USC, tore ligaments in his left knee and needed arthroscopic surgery.

At 6-4, 226 pounds, Tuioti’s physique and skills attracted many recruiters. But Tuioti didn’t meet the NCAA’s freshman eligibility requirements under Proposition 48, and USC officials suggested that he attend a community college.

Tuioti ended up at Rancho Santiago in 1990, before accepting a scholarship to play at New Mexico State in 1991.

Since the injury may have cost Tuioti a chance to play football at USC, he cautioned future all-stars.

“If you play, you should protect yourself,” Tuioti told The Times in 1989. “You don’t have to go out and bust your head or anything.”

There have been high-profile players who skipped the game, such as former USC and Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich, who played at Mater Dei and Capistrano Valley.

However, Valencia running back Chris Draft knows the risks but still encourages participation.

“I figured if I get hurt it will be a little injury,” said Draft, who has signed with Stanford. Draft gained 43 yards in 11 carries in this year’s all-star game.

“This is only one game, so you have time to recuperate,” he said. “If you start thinking about getting hurt, that’s when you will get hurt.”

Terry Shea, an assistant coach at Stanford who also has coached at San Jose State and Cal, said the Cardinal staff encourages players to participate in one all-star game.

“We feel the games are a reward for the players,” Shea said. “A lot of times it is a charity game for the community, so it’s also for a worthy cause.”

What concerned Shea is the reduction of training time for some all-star games.

“If a player has two weeks of practice, I think they can get into adequate football shape,” Shea said. “Some games are cutting down on training time. But in the 20-plus years I’ve been coaching, I’ve only seen a handful of serious injuries in all-star games.”

Said Workman: “I think players are more apt to be hurt during two-a-day drills than an all-star game. It would take a scientific study to say they are in worse shape before an all-star game than heading into hell week (the first week of fall practice).

“An injury could happen just as easily in an all-star basketball game or a pickup game. If you’re in athletics and all you’re worried about is getting hurt, then maybe you shouldn’t be playing at all.”