ROYALTON -- This could be a big season for the Royalton High
School football team. The Royals finished 8-2 last year and are led by 14 seniors.
Before the opening practice on Monday, the team gathered in a chemistry
classroom for a brief meeting led by head coach Jamie Morford.
The topics ranged from expectations to plans to team apparel to practice
schedules. There were four freshmen in the room who received a round of
applause as they signed “letters of intent” with the football program. Players
were asked about their team goals and the replies included going to state and
winning a Class 2A state championship. Rules for music played on the practice field
were spelled out thusly: The boys can listen to any tunes they like as long as
they include no vulgarities (actual or bleeped). If those standards are
violated, they were told, “get ready to listen to Coach Morford’s 1980s country
hits playlist.”
In the meeting and during the practice that followed, everything seemed
normal: stretching, agility drills, conditioning, formations, water breaks … normal,
normal, normal.
But this is no normal football season in Royalton, a town of 1,200
souls a short drive north of St. Cloud. Normalcy went out the window on the
morning of July 13, when assistant coach and Royals alum Nick Lanners was critically
injured when his vehicle was rear-ended at high speed at a stoplight. He
suffered a spinal fracture and is facing a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.
That’s when folks sprung into action to
support Nick, 35, his wife Heather and their two children. Enough casseroles to
fill a refrigerator were brought to St. Cloud Hospital. A livestock
auction donated proceeds to the Lanners family and a major benefit is planned for
October. Morford received calls, texts and emails from coaches at other schools.
Lights were turned on at high school football fields
all over Minnesota in a show of support that was reminiscent of the “Be The
Light” efforts during the pandemic in 2020 (click here for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4sPcDxJZqk
)
A GoFundMe site has blown through several goals. Morford and
former head coach/current assistant Joel Swenson set up the site with an
initial goal of raising $11,000 because Nick wore No. 11 during his playing
days at Royalton. As donations poured in, the goal was raised to $22,000, then
$33,000. As of this writing, nearly $60,000 has been donated. (Click here: https://tinyurl.com/2p84wsny ) A Caring
Bridge site provides updates on Nick’s condition: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nicklanners/journal
“It's been truly amazing to see the outpouring of
support for him,” Morford said. “As much
as I know he hates it, he needs it.”
Nick is the first person to help others but everyone
knew he wouldn’t want to be the focus of donations. Too bad, dude.
“At some point he’s going to yell at me because I did
all this stuff,” Morford said. “Heather said, ‘He won’t like that.’ But they don’t
need more casseroles. Insurance won’t cover all these expenses and this will
help pay for lots of things.”
Yes, Monday seemed like a normal opening day of
football. But it wasn’t.
“He's
a big part of the team,” senior quarterback Drew Yourczek said of Lanners. “Everybody
loves him. It's tough for the community and the whole team. We've been with him
for all four years and it's tough having a guy like that go down.”
Nick has been part of the Royalton football
team for about as long as anyone can remember. He was one of those little kids
who watched the big kids and couldn’t wait for his turn. He was an
eighth-grader when Morford joined the coaching staff as an assistant in 2001
(he became head coach in 2011). The talented youngster was brought up to the varsity
as an emergency backup quarterback that season, missed most of his freshman
year with a broken hand, then was a three-year all-conference player at quarterback
and tight end.
After graduation he studied to become a
corrections officer, which became his career. But he stayed with the Royals
football team, working as a volunteer coach. He became a paid staff member in
2011.
‘He’s definitely a players’ coach,” Morford said. “That’s
why this has been difficult, the players always go to Nick. He can be fiery, he’s
also a calming presence in our group.”
Nick seemingly did everything for the
team. Before Monday’s meeting, Swenson said, “He did so much, we don’t even
know what we don’t know. For example, we realized we didn’t have mouthguards.”
“You have players that come through
your program and you have some that you're acquaintances with throughout your
lifetime,” Swenson said. “Nick was one of those guys that worked his way not
only into being an assistant coach but a friend to us. I know a little bit from
being a head coach, Jamie's known a little bit as the head coach, and Nick knew
every aspect of this program. He knew it as a player, he knew it as a coach, he
knew it as a community member.
“It’s hard to replace what Nick
brings to the program. One thing about Nick Lanners is he's a bullhead, he's
determined and he's tough, and he will beat this and be back with us and we're
looking forward to him being back in our program and working with kids and
being a contributor to this.”
Sunday evening, Royalton coaches and players were invited to
Osakis High School for a presentation by Hunter Pinke, a former University of
North Dakota football captain who suffered a spinal injury in a skiing accident
and uses a wheelchair (more on Hunter: https://www.hunterpinke.com )
During
the evening, a message appeared on the phones of the Royalton players. It was
from Nick Lanners and it said everything about him and the game and the team he
loves …
Tomorrow you start another season. Long practices to prepare
yourselves for the ultimate goal. For some of you it’s your last first practice,
for some of you it’s learning from your senior leaders. Every day you put on
your practice gear, it’s to prepare yourselves for when you put on those maroon
and gold game jerseys, to play in front of your family and friends. I will not
be there this year. I will be practicing every day myself, trying to learn how
to use my hands, trying to learn how to use my arms and my legs. Know that
every day I am fighting and I need you guys to be fighting for the ultimate
goal that we’ve talked about. It will be a tough season with lots of ups and
downs. Every week will be a test for the end goal. Know that I love every
single one of you, I think of us as a family. I will be rooting for you guys
from a distance, so please fight every day and don’t take this experience for
granted. My fight will be long and painful, your fight needs to be fun and
unforgettable. #goroyals #family #doyourjob
--Coach Lanners
Have a great season, Royals. We’re all cheering for you.
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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