BOULDER — Maybe all this rotten luck Parker Orms is having at the University of Colorado is a prelude to another amazing ending.
Orms certainly didn’t come to Boulder after his storybook prep football career at Wheat Ridge High School to become best friends with head athletic trainer Miguel Rueda and his assistants. But three years into his college career, there is no one on the roster with better familiarity with the training room.
CU coach Jon Embree officially ruled Orms out for the rest of spring Monday as the Buffs returned to spring practices following 10 days off for spring break. Orms has been out since midway through the third practice last month when he pulled his right hamstring again.
Orms, who capped his high school career with a game-winning 56-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 with 19 seconds remaining in the state championship game, has endured one injury after another in Boulder. All of them have involved his right leg.
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He blew out his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the first game of his redshirt freshman season and endured swelling in the knee again last fall. He also had a calf injury and he has been fighting with his right hamstring for years now.
At least he’s still able to laugh about it.
“It’s been happening to me even before I got 13,” Orms said referring to his preference for an unlucky number as his jersey number. “I just think it’s how things go. You’ve just got to work with it and try to do the best you can and try to get healthy I guess. I hate watching practice. I feel like I’ve watched more practices than I’ve been in. It feels like that sometimes.”
Orms said he felt healthy and prepared coming into spring ball. He said he pulled his hamstring on a routine play while running. There was nothing unusual about it.
“It was like I got shot basically in my hamstring,” Orms said. “That’s what it felt like just out of nowhere. I hit the ground and just couldn’t believe it happened again.”
He chalks up his latest injury to the possibility of it being “God’s plan” for him.
Orms has plans of his own. He has played mostly cornerback and nickel when he has been healthy at CU. He wants to play safety, the defensive position he manned in high school. Coaches are giving him the opportunity to earn a spot there this year with an influx of cornerbacks joining the program as true freshmen this fall.
Orms said defensive coordinator Greg Brown has told him not to worry about bulking up to play safety. He doesn’t want Orms to lose any speed and says he has had safeties play at 185 pounds in the past.
“I feel behind a little bit,” Orms said. “I’m not getting the reps on the field. I’m getting them mentally but not physically. We’ve got more guys coming in the fall and Jered Bell is coming back. I know I’m going to get on the field somehow. I can’t be off the field.”
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