Is Reward Worth Brogdon’s Risk?

Shane Brogdon is a bruising runner and a sure tackler, attributes that in most circumstances would prompt any high school football team to welcome him into its lineup.

But coaches and support staff at Moorpark High are less than enthusiastic about Brogdon playing Friday night in a first-round Southern Section Division X playoff game against Orange Lutheran.

They fear for his safety.

Brogdon, a junior fullback and linebacker, did not play during the regular season after he was diagnosed as possibly having syringomyelia, a degenerative spinal cord condition that can cause muscular atrophy of the hands and spasticity of the lower extremities.

By playing football, Brogdon was told he was risking paralysis. His career, it appeared, was over.

However, late last month, Brogdon was examined again, this time by a specialist who concluded that the numbness he experienced in his left arm was caused by thoracic outlet syndrome, a relatively harmless nerve condition.

Brogdon, 5 feet 11 and 198 pounds, was allowed to resume contact drills last week, and expects to play Friday.

Ron Wilford, Moorpark’s first-year coach, said his enthusiasm over Brogdon’s return is tempered by concern for his health.

“That doctor better know what he’s talking about,” the coach said.

Dr. Ulrich Batzdorf, director of spinal neurosurgery at UCLA Medical Center, cleared Brogdon to practice after examining the player and looking at a magnetic resonance image of his neck.

Batzdorf determined that a cavity in Brogdon’s spinal cord is harmless because it is not causing swelling of the spinal cord and did not make the spine less stable.

Batzdorf, who said he has studied syringomyelia for more than 10 years, believes Brogdon’s well-developed neck muscles are impinging on nerves in his neck and left shoulder, causing the numbness.

For three weeks, Brogdon has performed exercises to build his trapezius muscles and reduce pressure on his compressed nerves.

“I understand the pressures he’s under,” Batzdorf said. “He isn’t likely to sustain permanent injury to his spinal cord from this problem.”

The pressure Batzdorf referred to comes from Brogdon, who says football is “the biggest thing” in his life. He has worked with his father, Paul, since childhood on drills designed to make him a better player.

Even so, while discussing his return to football, Brogdon seems to vacillate between being excited and prudently cautious.

“There’s chances in everything you do but you have to go out and see what happens,” he said. “From what the doctor said, it seems like I have the same risk [of paralysis] as anyone else. If there was any doubt in my mind I wouldn’t play.”

However, he also said: “I want to get out there, but I will have that thought in the back of my head of ‘Will I get paralyzed?’ I don’t want to risk sitting in a chair the rest of my life because that’s not me.”

That concern is amplified by Dr. Luga Podesta, the team physician.

“If this is my son, there’s no way I’d let him play,” Podesta said. “I’m the one responsible for this kid on the field and I’m just praying nothing happens to him.”

Paul Brogdon, who played high school football in Texas, said he thought long and hard before allowing his son to play again.

“Do I deprive him and my youngest son [of football] out of the fears that I have, or do I look at what I gained from playing as a young man?” he said. “No one but me knows how deep my love for him and his brother goes, but do I hover over him? I couldn’t do that, I’d smother him.”

Brogdon’s mother, Brenda Chance, lives in Beaumont, Texas. She trusts her son and ex-husband are making the correct decision.

“I’d rather not see him play and be alive and walking, but I know how committed he is,” she said. “I would be devastated if something happened to him, but I don’t feel I can ask him not to play.”

Brogdon probably won’t start against Orange Lutheran and Wilford is unsure how much he’ll play.

“If he’s the same old Shane he’ll get some quality time at [fullback and linebacker],” Wilford said.

Several times in the past two seasons, Brogdon suffered a “stinger”--a burning, numbing sensation that shot down his left arm after collisions.

Podesta said after one such incident, Brogdon had neck pain and limited motion for a week. Brogdon was outfitted with additional padding under his shoulder pads and a plastic “cowboy collar” was attached to the pads to prevent his neck from being hyper-extended.

During a preseason practice, Brogdon turned his head and extended his arms while running to catch a pass. His arm went numb.

Paul Brogdon convinced Shane to be examined by Dr. Mel Hayashi, a Thousand Oaks orthopedist and the Newbury Park High football team’s doctor for 23 years.

Hayashi’s diagnosis: Brogdon probably had syringomyelia, a condition in which a cavity forms at neck level in the spinal cord. The cavity gradually expands, filling with fluid, and can cause damage to nerve fibers.

Contact sports were out.

“I could see [Shane’s] world was just destroyed,” Paul Brogdon said. “The pain on his face, I couldn’t take it. My heart broke.”

Brogdon attended every practice and conditioning session for weeks, running and lifting weights to stay in shape while he and his father searched for answers.

Dr. Kolar Murthy, a Thousand Oaks neurologist, examined Brogdon and referred him to Batzdorf.

Batzdorf’s examination was intended to be the last word on the severity of Brogdon’s condition. The diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome was unexpected.

“I went to [Dr. Batzdorf] because of his expertise and his expertise is what I’ve got faith in,” Paul Brogdon said. “I can only pray I’m making the right decision.”