2008 KANSAS JAYHAWKS FOOTBALL
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
When Kerry Meier steps on a football field, he no longer takes it for granted. He learned the hard way that there's more to life than football.
There's more than putting on the pads each day and going to practice with his teammates. There's more than being on the cover of Sports illustrated or being recognized as the pride of Pittsburg, Kan. And there's surely more than rising on the depth chart at an unfamiliar position and helping lead Kansas to the greatest season in school history.
For Meier, who was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in 2005, just having a healthy heart is an accomplishment that he knows he will never top.
"Anytime you have a scenario like that in your life, it kind of hits you and really opens up your eyes to not just football, but life in general." Meier said. "I went from talking about playing to having heart surgery It was a big-time eye opener."
When Meier arrived in Lawrence from the southeast Kansas town of Pittsburg in the summer of 2005, he was hailed as the next great Jayhawk quarterback. Many observers
Kerry Meier (leaf) leaps for a ball against Missouri during Kansas' 36-28 loss to the Tigers last November. Meier, who started at quarterback in 2006, moved to wide receiver in 2007 and caught 26 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
expected him to immediately battle for the starting job as a freshman. But that all changed when tests administered to incoming football players showed that Meier suffered from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or WPW, a condition that affects the electrical system of the heart.
Instead of battling for the starting quarterback job
than 5 percent of patients who underwent the same procedure.
"It was a pretty complicated thing, I still don't fully understand it," Meier said.
on the practice field, Meier was on an operating table undergoing a lengthy procedure in which doctors entered his body through his groin and worked their way up to his heart.
"We were thankful that KU had some sort of screening mechanism because he had absolutely no symptoms, nothing ever showed up on any of his routine physicals," said Kerry's father, Dennis Meier. "It was out of the blue, and we were very thankful it was observed."
According to www.mayoclinic.com, WPW is diagnosed in about 1 percent of the general population. The condition causes the heart rate to rapidly increase about one or two times a week, usually returning to its normal speed and rhythm after a few minutes. But though rare, the rapid heart rate can sometimes result in sudden death.
Doctors informed Meier that as soon as the problem was cured, he would be free of any lingering effects and would be able to live a normal and healthy life. According to www. mayoclinic.com, the syndrome reappears in less
Meier's procedure corrected the problem and allowed him to return to the practice field just 10 days later.
The injury may have been a blessing in disguise for Meier, the youngest of four Meiers to play football in college, and whose family wished even before the injury that Meier would be able to sit out the season with a redshirt, learn the offensive system and gain the experience needed to be a starting quarterback in the Big 12.
"I said, 'This kid is way too talented to be standing here next to me. Let's find a way to get him on the field.'"
MARK MANGINO Kansas football coach
"Everything just kind of happens for a reason and that's how we looked at it," Dennis Meier said. "It was our hope that he would be able to redshirt. All of the other boys had gone through a redshirt year and his brothers kind of had him convinced that it was probably a positive thing to redshirt versus getting thrown out there, especially at the quarterback position. There's just a certain level of maturity and confidence that you build during that redshirt year."
Fans pleaded for Meier as the Jayhawk offense struggled later that season, but Mangino kept Meier on the bench, refusing to burn a year of his eligibility for a quick fix in a couple of games.
The strategy paid off the following year. Meier started eight games at quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2006 and passed for
1,193 yards and a Kansas freshman record 13 touchdowns. He was also second on the team with 346 rushing yards. A shoulder injury cut short his season and allowed Todd Reesing to break onto the scene and emerge as prime competition for Meier heading into last season.
The two former roommates battled for the starting spot, but eventually it was Reesing who came out on top. It was a crushing blow to Meier, who had dreamed of being a starting quarterback all of his life. And while some thought Meier might seek a transfer to a school where he could be the starter, Meier had no thoughts of leaving town.
"A lot of the music I listen to has bongos in it so I just decided to buy some myself," Meier said. "I kind of do my own thing, make my own beats. It's a great way for me to get away and get my mind somewhere else. I just play the drum and let the rhythm roll."
An avid music fan, Meier searched online and soon purchased a set of bongo drums off of eBay. Instead of finding his solace on the field, he found it off.
"No, never," Meier said emphatically. "I came here to get a good education, and I really enjoyed Lawrence and the people. It's just far enough away from home that my parents and everybody can't bother me, but they are close enough to stay in contact too. But no, transferring never crossed my mind."
Meier said that it took him about a day to get past the disappointment of not being named the starter and that he used it as motivation to get better. As he stood on the sideline and watched
as Reesing led the Jayhawks to two impressive victories, coach Mark Mangino and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner began working on a way to somehow get Meier onto the field.
"I realized that standing next to me during the game was one of the most talented athletes on our entire roster," Mangino said last year. "I said, 'This kid is way too talented to be standing here next to me. Let's find a way to get him on the field.'"
Meier's role as the secret weapon had begun. He appeared in 10 games as wide receiver, including five in which he started and caught 26 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
Meier found the field in week three against Florida International when he entered the game in the first quarter as a wide receiver. Reesing found Meier for a 15-yard completion on the first play and on the next play, Meier motioned into the backfield and took a pitch from Reesing for a six-yard run.
"He's a natural athlete, and when you put an athlete in a position to compete he's going to do well." Reesing said. "What was shocking was how quickly he picked it up. He went out there the first day as a wideout and he looked like he had been doing it all year."
Meier also saw action in eight games as quarterback and was 25 for 29 for 275 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first Jayhawk since Garfield Taylor in 1981 to have a passing touchdown, receiving touchdown and rushing touchdown in the same year. Add in his four punts for a 32.2-yard average and he became the ultimate utility player.
"He's the definition of a team player. He's going to do whatever he has to do to help the team out." Reeing added. "When he came in last year towards the end of the year and started playing wideout, he made a big impact. He's going to be a guy who's going to make a lot of
plays and surprise a lot of people."
Dennis Meier played baseball at the University of Missouri-Rolla and his father played in the Yankees organization, but despite the baseball bloodline in their family, all four of his sons eventually decided to go with football. Shad played tight end at Kansas State, Adam played quarterback at Pittsburg State and Dylan was a quarterback at Kansas State before the youngest Meier ended up at Kansas.
"Kerry was always a very athletic kid, and with his brother being a tight end and having the success that he did, there was no doubt in my mind that Kerry could pretty much play quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back. I mean there was no question he has always been a very good athlete."
And now, as Meier prepares to start this season as one of the Jayhawks' starting wide receivers, he can't help but think about three years ago, and the heart condition that could have ended his life.
"Honestly, it does, it creeps back into my mind," Meier said. "It can't help but creep into your mind, having heart surgery, but I feel like my body is in great condition and I'm just happy with the way things turned out."
"We may have burned them out when they were young playing too much baseball. I don't know that to be a fact," the elder Meier said. "Back when they were pretty young, about 9 or 10, they were playing on traveling teams and stuff like that so they played quite a few games. I think they just liked football the best. They pretty much played all of the sports in high school but they saw their opportunity in football as they gathered up some size and maturity.
- Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
Thursday, August 28, 2008 www.kansan.com
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