Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Accidents and overuse injuries can certainly sideline an athlete and sometimes even force him or her to consider other plans.
Christian Brothers College High School student Cornell “Tre” Haynes was born to be a sports-lover. He says his favorite player of all time is running back Barry Sanders, who played in the NFL from 1989 to 1998. That was before Tre was born.
Tre, who’s now 16, started playing organized football at age 6 at Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club. “I remember my first practice,” he says. “When I first started playing organized sports, I was just excited it was different from playing backyard football. I fell in love with the game.”
Tre excelled as a cornerback in fall 2013 and as a sprinter and jumper in track the following spring. But it was during the summer that he first injured his back. Then, he hurt it again during the 2014 football preseason.
“I caught a kick return, and I took it for about 90 yards for a touchdown and I didn’t get hit,” Tre says. “I didn’t take any hits, but when I got to the end zone, I felt something was wrong with my back, so I went to the sidelines, and they said the trainer would try to stretch me out to see if I just pulled something. I ended up getting X-rayed the next day, and they said I had broken my transverse process.”
Tre was told it would take six to eight weeks to heal with rehabilitation exercises. “My first thought was, of course, coming back and speeding up the process,” he says. “I didn’t want to miss the whole season. I went to all the games and helped however they needed me, whether it was water boy or ball boy, anything, and they did a good job of making me feel like I was still part of the team.”
Anyone who knows about his dad, Nelly, knows sports are a passion in the family. Nelly was once a Major League Baseball prospect as a student at University City High School. He owns part of a National Basketball Association team and once won an MVP trophy while playing with the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association.
In the time Tre was away from the playing field, he says he had more time to focus on academics and think about other options. “My dad had a talk with me—because it’s my first injury—about a backup plan if I get hurt again, or what if it doesn’t work out, so I’ve been looking into the future. I’m going to get into sports broadcasting or announcing. It’s kind of a Plan B.”
Tre was recently featured on his dad’s reality TV show Nellyville, which airs on BET. Nelly set up Tre with the opportunity to sit in with Willie McGinest on the ESPN set.
What we’re doing about it
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In the past few years, the Missouri State High School Activities Association has started surveying schools regarding brain injury incidents, treatments provided, and prevention services available.
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More and more schools have certified athletic trainers and physical therapists on staff, although it’s not a state mandate.
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Seventeen local schools, including the Parkway high schools, Whitfield School, and Cor Jesu Academy, receive athletic training and coverage from PRORehab, a physical therapy company.
