Falmouth's Cody Murray Is Ready To Play Again

By: Rich Maclone
Published: 11/19/10

Nearly a year ago he was lying on the turf in the west end zone at Guv Fuller Field writhing in a pain worse than anything else he’d ever experienced. The injuries that Cody Murray suffered while trying to block a punt in the third quarter of last year’s loss to the Red Raiders on Thanksgiving Day were multiple and severe.

With his leg bent in a direction that legs aren’t supposed to bend, Murray suffered tears to his anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament, posterior collateral ligament, and lateral collateral ligament. He also had a dislocated kneecap, a torn calf, and a torn hamstring.

It was ugly and the road to recovery has been long.

But the trip down that highway is nearing its final destination. While wolfing down a monstrous salad that his mother, Ingrid, had dropped off for him to consume before he headed to his next appointment, the senior who was known for laying out opponents on the gridiron and the ice paused between bites to relay some news that certainly has him feeling thankful this year.

“I went up to Burlington last Tuesday to see my ankle doctor and was cleared for hockey and football (next year),” he said. “Then we went over to Peabody for an evaluation on my knee and he cleared me for hockey, lacrosse and football. I still have to see my ankle doctor again in February, for lacrosse, but I’m sure I’ll get cleared for that.

“My knee doctor said my knee looked phenomenal; he said it’s 100 percent.”

The doctors’ greatest fears in his long-term recovery were that the nerve damage he suffered in his leg would be permanent. After another surgery on his ankle, the feeling in his leg began to return and now that is no longer a concern either. “It’s made a lot of progression. I had no feeling down the side of my leg...after the surgery, when I was pulling off the [bandages], it pulled on the hairs on my leg, and I was like ‘Ow, that hurt.’ Then I realized, that hurt...it was a good hurt.

”That news is fantastic and nearly unbelievable to anyone who witnessed the horrific scene. The Enterprise has photographs of the injury but has not published them because they are not for the faint of heart.

Murray, though, said he’d be fine with seeing them in print because it would make him smile. He knows better than anyone just how difficult it was to get from that point to where he is today, preparing for the 2010-11 hockey season with the FHS Clippers.

Last year he watched his team play toward the state tournament from a wheelchair up against the boards. This year he’ll be on the ice looking to put opponents on their backs.

“It’s crazy. Getting to get out there on the ice puts a smile on my face every time,” he said.

Murray plans to play the full season this year with the Clippers as long as he does not have any setbacks. He then plans on suiting up for the lacrosse team in the spring. He has not made a final decision on post high school plans yet, but wherever he ends up he plans on returning to the football field as well.

While there are plenty of people who have helped him get back to where he is now, the senior said that he wanted to make sure that, first and foremost, Steve Brocklebank and the staff at Falmouth Sports Center Physical Therapy get credit for pushing him and helping him through the long rehab process. “Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and also my dad (Bob Murray) pushed me every day,” he said.

While he is close, Murray is not yet all the way back. He is working with Deb Fernandes twice a week at the Falmouth Ice Arena to recover his power while on skates and he also said he needs to improve his weight distribution when on the ice. Currently he is favoring his good leg too much. He said he doesn’t think that he’ll be able to play in all of the preseason scrimmages with the Clippers, but fully plans on being on the ice for the season opener in December.

If he had his way he’d be out on the field on Thursday against the Red Raiders on Thanksgiving. This season has been difficult for him as he’s been on the sidelines for every football game and had to watch as the Clippers’ season went south due to his friends and teammates suffering injuries along the way. “I’d kill to be able to go out there. I want to suit up so bad for that game, just to be in uniform,” he said.

That day will definitely be tough altogether. The Clippers are venturing to Barnstable to play on the Red Raiders’ brand-new field, christening the place with the first-ever game played on the new surface. FHS will be the underdogs as the team has lost four in a row, after starting the season off at 5-0, but Murray believes that his team is capable of pulling off the upset and getting the job done.

“It’s been emotional because you see your team and the trouble that they’re having with injuries and I can’t get in there. I’m so close, but so far away. It’s driving me crazy not being able to play,” he said. “The hardest part is not playing on Friday nights and then seeing yourself on film on Saturday morning. Fridays I just don’t feel like I’m part of the team. I’m on the sidelines, but I’m on the side with the other injured guys and I’m not in there helping them on the field.

“This is definitely going to be a rough day. Just being in all of the ceremonies and it being Barnstable, it’s definitely going to be emotional.”

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