LAKEWOOD — As far as triumphant returns go, an orchestra’s worth of support was behind Garrett Tempel on Thursday night at Jefferson County Stadium.
Tempel, who was the opening- night starting running back for ThunderRidge High a year ago, suffered a grisly leg injury Oct. 15. He returned as the Grizzlies’ No. 1 ball carrier in the season opener against Chatfield.
It would have been enough if the senior had recovered from a shattered left femur and rejoined the team as a student-assistant coach. Maybe even a third-string tight end. But Tempel’s entire rehabilitation was focused on being the player he was last year, when he amassed 615 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns before breaking the strongest bone in the human body in Week 7 against Highlands Ranch.
“Every day at school, I’m asked like three times a day, ‘How’s your leg?’ ” Tempel said. “No one has ever seen a kid have a shattered femur and come back and play. I think it’s cool.”
With a steel plate secured by nine screws running from the bottom of his knee to the middle of his thigh, Tempel amassed 125 yards on 14 carries, including a touchdown, in Thursday’s 49-28 win over the Chargers. Before the game, he was named the offensive captain.
Grizzlies coach Joe Johnson is among those who thought Tempel would never play football again.
“It’s been amazing to me that he has made what appears to be a complete and full recovery this quickly,” Johnson said. “I’ve been really surprised at how little (the injury) has affected him in what we’ve been doing this fall.”
The femur, which is Latin for thigh, is harder than concrete and can withstand 30 times the weight of an adult. Tempel’s femur snapped above the knee when he was simultaneously hit in the left leg as he was planting his foot. He had been carrying the ball near the right sideline at Shea Stadium while trying to stiff arm a defender. The opponent happened to be a kid Tempel played with in the Arapahoe Youth League.
“Super nice kid,” Tempel’s father, Vince, said of the defender. “He felt horrible, but it was a clean hit.”
“Typically, when you break your femur, you tear ligaments in the knee due to the force it takes to actually break the strongest bone in the body,” said Rob Van Valkenburgh, Tempel’s sports performance coach at SportXcel in Centennial. “Garrett got lucky — it was a perfect break. This doesn’t make his road to recovery any easier, it just makes his chances at recovering slim rather than near impossible.”
After a five-hour surgery, Tempel said his rehabilitation was extraordinarily painful.
“There were times I said, ‘Is it worth it?’ ” he said. “I’d love to play at the next level, play college football, but I just wanted to come back (as a senior). I just wanted to play again in high school.”
In addition to regaining his starting position, the 5-foot-7, 185-pound Tempel said he’s faster and quicker than a year ago.
“His recovery and internal drive should be commended,” Van Valkenburgh said. “The majority of athletes would have hung up their cleats in January and called it quits.”
Tempel’s remarkable recovery is most remarkable to those who witnessed the injury and stood over him in disbelief.
“It was horrible,” said senior safety/wide receiver John Tapp, who played quarterback last year. “You could see him scream, and the bone sticking out. We knew right away.”
Said Tempel: “The worst pain I ever felt. The trainer came over and moved my leg and asked if I felt any grinding, and I could feel the bones grinding above my knee. It was just terrible.”
Johnson, 45, said it’s the worst injury he has ever seen on a football field — and it was followed by unquestionably the most extraordinary recovery.
“When the trainer and I walked out on the field, we were thinking it was a knee issue and we started to do ligament tests and his whole leg slid over, moving where it’s not supposed to be moving,” Johnson said.
The coach was told Tempel would be cleared to practice in April but doubted that he would play at all until hitting drills began last month.
“In the back of your mind, you’re thinking: ‘This kid is a running back and he’s going to take blows, he’s going to get hit in the legs. How is he going to respond when we get in live situations and runs into somebody and gets knocked down?’ ” Johnson said.
Tempel had the same fears.
“I was scared,” he said. “After getting hit and hit, you just don’t think about it anymore. I’m faster and stronger than I was last year. I’ve lost weight, toned up. I’ve completely changed.
“But I still love playing football.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
