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SPRING <strong>2022</strong> | 41<br />
giving up on football. "But to be honest,<br />
that might be what motivated me the<br />
most to come back and play. I wanted to<br />
prove everyone wrong."<br />
And prove them wrong he did.<br />
On Oct. 15, 2021, less than eight<br />
months after suffering an injury that<br />
normally takes more than a year to heal,<br />
O'Brien — who stands at 6 feet 2 inches<br />
and weighs in at 290 pounds — was back<br />
on the field with his Pioneer teammates<br />
and making an impact on the field.<br />
"It was a lot of hard work, but I never<br />
wanted to give up," said O'Brien. "I<br />
pushed myself every day to come back<br />
and play, but I stayed smart the whole<br />
time and made sure I didn't rush things."<br />
A big part of O'Brien never giving up<br />
on his dream to return to football was his<br />
efforts during his junior year both in his<br />
rehab and in working on his role with the<br />
team. Lamusta says that O'Brien never<br />
missed a workout or practice during his<br />
entire junior season, even after having<br />
surgery.<br />
That also meant continuing to work<br />
on recruiting and finding a school that<br />
was the perfect match.<br />
That's where Saint Anselm came<br />
in. After initially making contact with<br />
O'Brien during his sophomore year, the<br />
Hawks stuck with O'Brien all the way<br />
through his injury and rehab.<br />
"To be honest, when I put on that<br />
Saint Anselm jersey during my visit<br />
there, it felt like a part of me had<br />
been missing and I just found it," said<br />
O'Brien. "They were the only guys<br />
who stuck with me ever since reaching<br />
out sophomore year and all the way<br />
through my injury, my rehab and my<br />
return. (Running backs) Coach (Price)<br />
Ferguson and (offensive line) Coach<br />
(Hunter) Mackay came by the house on<br />
Wednesday, and that just sealed the deal<br />
for me."<br />
And so when O'Brien signed his NLI<br />
surrounded by his family, his coach and<br />
a number of his high-school teammates,<br />
the next chapter in his football journey<br />
was started.<br />
Now, according to O'Brien, comes the<br />
hard work.<br />
"The level of play from high school<br />
to college football is a huge jump, and I<br />
know I'm going to have to keep working<br />
hard if I want to be able to compete for<br />
a starting spot," said O'Brien. "After<br />
working through what I have over the<br />
past year, I think I have the ability to step<br />
in and contribute."<br />
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