Westlake Qb

[ntsumck]

Any update on if he signed anywhere?

[NTPhiKap99]

By Rick Cantu

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

After an abrupt change of heart Saturday, Westlake quarterback Nick Foles — who decommitted from Arizona State — is not planning to sign with a college on Wednesday, national signing day, his father said Monday.

Foles, this past season's Central Texas player of the year, "wants to weigh his options" before making a decision, Larry Foles said.

Several schools have shown interest since the 6-foot-5-inch Foles pulled out of his commitment to Arizona State last weekend, Larry Foles said. Those schools include Baylor, Louisiana Tech and Michigan State.

Some Big 12 schools also have contacted the quarterback, but Larry Foles declined to say which ones. The family planned to send game films to Michigan State on Monday, he said.

Foles backed out of his pledge to Arizona State after he learned that the Sun Devils had made a scholarship offer to a third quarterback prospect, Samson Szakacsy of Camarillo, Calif. Szakacsy, who had previously committed to Southern California, formally switched to Arizona State on Sunday.

Foles, who originally committed to Arizona State last May, had been told by Sun Devil coaches that the school was pursuing only two quarterbacks this year, Foles and Chasen Stangel of San Jacinto, Calif., Larry Foles said.

Stangel is ranked by Scout. com as the No. 3 quarterback in California; Szakacsy is rated seventh.

Foles' decision to decommit is tricky since most colleges already have decided or are close to deciding their entire list of recruits to sign.

One option for Foles would be to choose a school, then grayshirt this fall, meaning he would not go to the school on scholarship or even become a full-time student until January 2008. That's when his five-year NCAA eligibility clock would begin.

"If we learned anything about this, it's that Nick committed too early," Larry Foles said. "When Nick committed to Arizona State, all the recruiting stopped. If Arizona State had three quarterbacks come in, I promise you one would have transferred before the first game."

When Foles committed to Arizona State, the Sun Devils were coached by Dirk Koetter, who was fired last fall and replaced by Dennis Erickson in December.

Despite playing most of the 2006 season with a major shoulder injury, Foles still threw for 3,266 games and 32 touchdowns, leading Westlake to the Class 5A, Division I state championship game.

He had surgery in January to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. He's expected to take another three months to rehabilitate it, and Larry Foles said there is a 90 percent chance that the quarterback would be healthy enough to play this fall.

rcantu@statesman.com; 445-3953

[GreenBat]

He had surgery in January to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. He's expected to take another three months to rehabilitate it, and Larry Foles said there is a 90 percent chance that the quarterback would be healthy enough to play this fall.

I'm sure ASU wanted him to grayshirt and he didn't want to.

If I were a college coach, I'd be scared of this kid. He's "Damaged goods." A torn labrum is a pretty serious injury and from what I understand it normally takes 18 months to 2 years to heal correctly. I wish Foles well, but he needs to go somewhere that he can heal for 1 or 2 years.

[Stan R]

I'm sure ASU wanted him to grayshirt and he didn't want to.

If I were a college coach, I'd be scared of this kid. He's "Damaged goods." A torn labrum is a pretty serious injury and from what I understand it normally takes 18 months to 2 years to heal correctly. I wish Foles well, but he needs to go somewhere that he can heal for 1 or 2 years.

I had a torn labrum back while I was at UNT caused by a broom ball accident where I dislocated my shoulder (don't ask) and then seven years later (too lazy to get the repair done) I had a bankhart repair and labrum repair done - open wound surgery - not othroscopic. That was the hardest and most painful therapy I've ever been through. It is over 8 months later and my arm still doesn't feel the same as it did before and it isn't even my throwing arm. Granted, I'm not throwing passes or doing anything overly strenuous (does typing count?) but you don't feel the same. There is the mental aspect also - always worried that you could re-injure the arm and go through all of that therapy again. And that is very possible when a 250LB defensive end hits you from behind when your arm is in just the wrong position.

[Eagle-96]

Drew Brees had the same surgery performed by the same doctor in Januray of 2006 and we all know what kind f season he had 9 months later.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

The constant pain that shot through Nick Foles' body was almost unbearable by the time the Westlake quarterback reached the Class 5A state championship game.

Foles, this past season's Central Texas player of the year, played nearly the entire year with a serious shoulder injury. He felt a jolt of sharp needles every time he released the football in Westlake's 43-29 championship game loss to Southlake Carroll.

'He's anxious to throw the football again,' physical therapist Lori Schwanz says of Nick Foles. 'Sometimes I have to pull in the reins.'

Westlake QB Nick Foles played nearly the entire 2006 season with a serious shoulder injury.

He played on, however, completing 24 of his 43 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown — a remarkable performance, considering he was playing with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

"At one point, my shoulder came out of its socket," Foles recalled. "The pain went through my body and to the right side of my brain."

This week, nearly six weeks after he threw his final pass, Foles was busy pedaling a stationary bike at an Austin rehabilitation clinic. The black sling that he's required to wear every day had been tossed to the floor. Under the watchful eye of physical therapist Lori Schwanz, Foles — who will sign a scholarship on Wednesday with Arizona State — is in the first stage of a four-month process to come back from shoulder surgery to repair ligaments and tendons.

"Look how skinny my arm is," Foles said, curling a three-pound weight.

"It's muscle atrophy," Schwanz explained, the result of his arm being physically inactive for more than a month.

Foles has lost 10 pounds since having surgery three weeks ago in Birmingham, Ala. to repair the torn labrum. The 90-minute procedure was done by renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, the same doctor who repaired Drew Brees' shoulder in January 2006.

Call it a Westlake connection.

It was Brees himself — the quarterback of Westlake's 1996 state championship team — who notified Dr. Andrews when he learned of Foles' injury. After a few phone calls from Brees, Foles was off to the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham to meet the surgeon whose list of clients includes Brees, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and baseball pitchers John Smoltz, Kerry Wood and Roger Clemens.

"The parallels between Drew and Nick are amazing," Andrews said. "They have the same temperament, the same motivation. Good athletes are in that mold. This young kid is in the mold of Drew Brees."

Brees' recovery has been well chronicled. He sustained a 360-degree tear of his labrum — which required 11 surgical anchors, while only three or four are usually required — in his final game with the San Diego Chargers in 2005.

Foles knew his labrum was injured but did not know the severity of it until he went to Alabama. The labrum, a ring of cartilage that surrounds the entry to the shoulder joint, was almost completely torn. He needed eight surgical anchors to complete the operation.

Foles committed to Arizona State last spring. The Sun Devils are expected to sign another quarterback — Chasen Stangel of San Jacinto, Calif. — on Wednesday, and returning starter Rudy Carpenter will be a junior this fall. New Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson and offensive coordinator Rich Olson visited Foles in Austin last week.

"I'll be honest. I was actually excited to have surgery," said Foles, who needed the operation in order to play again.

Foles' father, Larry, suspected something was wrong as he watched his son's passing mechanics toward the last half of football season. Originally hurt during a 31-24 loss to Austin High on Sept. 29, Foles began releasing the football near his ear rather than over his head.

Still, the quarterback did not disclose the extent of his shoulder pain to his family or team, fearing a bad diagnosis might force him to miss the remainder of the season. As Westlake won game after game in the playoffs, his desire to play negated his need for medical attention, he said.

"I kept telling the trainers I was fine, (that) I can handle it," Foles said.

The Chaparrals rallied from two District 25-5A losses by catching fire in the playoffs, winning four games before falling to Southlake Carroll in the Division I championship game. Foles threw for 3,266 yards and 32 touchdowns this season, passing Brees' career marks at Westlake for passing yards and touchdowns.

"My shoulder popped (against Austin High) and my arm felt dead," Foles said. "I was praying nothing was torn. I tried to tell myself that everything was fine and just play through it.

"If you watched me during the season, I was always throwing the ball on the sideline just to keep warm."

Foles goes through physical therapy three times a week. Schwanz described him as an "overachiever."

"He's anxious to throw the football again," she said. "Sometimes I have to pull in the reins and tell him his limitations."

That should tell you how tough Foles is, Andrews said.

"I think this kid is going to make me look pretty good," he said. "I'm sure he'll be a big-time college player, and maybe we'll see him on Sundays someday."

[MeanMag]

Despite playing most of the 2006 season with a major shoulder injury, Foles still threw for 3,266 games and 32 touchdowns, leading Westlake to the Class 5A, Division I state championship game.

He threw for a lot of games in high school, in fact he threw a TD about once every hundred games.

[emmitt01]

Several schools have shown interest since the 6-foot-5-inch Foles pulled out of his commitment to Arizona State last weekend, Larry Foles said. Those schools include Baylor, Louisiana Tech and Michigan State.

Some Big 12 schools also have contacted the quarterback, but Larry Foles declined to say which ones.

Someone should inform Baylor that, though they have already contacted this kid, they are no longer in the Big XII apparently.