First it was a torn ACL in the spring of his sophomore year. A year later, it was a torn meniscus. Then another surgery to clean up cartilage followed three months later.

Three surgeries on his right knee in a 15-month span forced Keenan Hale to say goodbye to a Syracuse football career that, four years in the making, never even started.

“I just realized it’s my time to go,” Hale said. “I can do so many more things and I realize that. I really enjoyed every moment that I’ve had, but I just realized it’s my time.

“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.”

SU Athletics announced Monday that Hale has ended his football career and left the team, but Hale said the decision was made “a couple weeks ago.” He said his right knee, which has been injury-prone, is fine now. But being able to avoid further injury was the deciding factor for the senior wide receiver who never played a game for the Orange.

Hale said the decision was ultimately his, but one he relied on his family, the SU coaching staff, and doctors to help him make. Now, he plans to go to graduate school for international business management.

“It is hard, it’s always hard when you see a young man who wants to be playing football and then it’s taken away from him in an uncontrollable way,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said during his weekly teleconference on Tuesday. “It’ll make him stronger down the road.”

Hale said he envisioned his life 20 years down the line and didn’t want any more injuries to hinder his abilities later in life.

“The risks aren’t really worth it for me to say I should still be on the field,” Hale said.

Coming out of high school, Hale expected to be a big-time college athlete. He had a vision for a stellar athletic career that never panned out.

He was a two-star recruit out of The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Scout.com. He committed to the Orange early in his senior season and left offers from Vanderbilt and Arkansas on the table.

At McCallie, Hale was a three-sport star. He was an all-state selection in football and track and field. He racked up 860 receiving yards as a senior and could clear 6 feet, 8 inches on the high jump.

“I just felt like he had a lot of good football ahead of him,” said Rick Whitt, his former McCallie football head coach, “that he would be a contributor to a program and develop into a good football player.”

Hale’s contributions have been felt more off the field. Having had a career derailed by injuries, he’s become a mentor to other athletes suffering similar ailments. He mentored junior nose tackle John Raymon, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last year.

He outlined specific aspects of the recovery process with Raymon, like which machines in the weight room he should use, and mentored him on the mentality he should have.

“I just tell them, this is what you’re going to have to do,” Hale said. “The trainers can tell you all day long that you’re going to have to do it, but I try to give them the extra tips of how I was able to get back and how to cope.”

And while coping with injuries has become second nature for Hale, it was not something he’d ever dealt with before coming to Syracuse.

After his sophomore season, he had seen improvement in his play and believed he had put himself in position to earn significant playing time as a junior.

But while his reflection of his career comes with no regret for his decision to leave, there is a feeling of wishing he had done more.

“Coming into college, expecting to be a big college athlete and doing this and that, it’s tough,” Hale said. “A lot of things happen. And I think these injuries really help me look at my life.

“… You have so many things that you can offer.”

Published on October 29, 2014 at 12:18 am

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